Aussie ranger finds mystery message in a bottle

An Australian ranger working on a remote, sub-Antarctic outpost is searching for answers after finding a mystery message in a bottle.

Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Stella Thomas spotted the green bottle after it washed up on the shores of Macquarie Island, halfway between New Zealand and Antarctica in the Pacific Ocean.

The bottle's cork was intact, and Ms Thomas quickly realised it was no ordinary debris, the Australian Antarctic Division said on its website.

In high anticipation, Ms Thomas and other staff on the island carefully extracted the paper with the help of some forceps.

But the page was blank.

Undeterred, Ms Thomas rubbed a lead pencil over the paper, which revealed a message. But key details from the message were indecipherable.

"Hi, my name is ????. I am from Poland (Europe). I am during a trip to Bouvet Island. Today is April 6th 2015. If you find this message, send email. My email address is 'JUDBAS@....PL'," the message read. 

Online searches revealed that a polar cruise ship had indeed travelled to Bouvet Island, a Norwegian volcanic island in the Southern Ocean, south west of Cape Town, during April 2015.

But as to who wrote the message in a bottle and flung it into the Southern Ocean – the mystery remains.