A woman expressed her disbelief when she received a “message in a bottle” back, accompanied by a letter demanding she stop littering.
Lorraine Forbes, 58, has been sending plastic bottles with letters into the sea, hoping to connect romantically with someone. Over time, she has gotten replies from places as distant as the Netherlands and France, but most responses have come from nearby beaches.
Recently, however, Lorraine, who lives in Eastbourne, East Sussex, was taken aback when one of her letters—written on the back of a John Lydon concert flyer—was returned with a stern letter from a scavenger.
This letter, which arrived packed in a box of rocks and cost Lorraine $9 to retrieve, read: “Please stop throwing trash in the ocean. We will be heading to Pevensey Bay or Norman’s Bay soon. Thank you, trash picker.”
Lorraine, who has been living by the coast for three decades, was genuinely stunned by the rude response. She mentioned that her intention was simply to create a connection.
“I’ve been doing this for years, and usually, the replies I get don’t lead to meetings; people mostly just share where they found my letter,” she explained. “I was hoping for some romance, something a bit old-fashioned.”
She continued, “It was a sneaky scavenger who replied, and I had to pay $9 to get the letter. I feel that was really harsh. It felt like a lesson was being imposed on me.”
Interestingly, the letter bore her name and address, but the sender remained anonymous. Lorraine jokingly mentioned that if they had provided their name, she would have asked for her $9 back.
This letter, which was dispatched on September 5th, returned to her just over a month later, arriving on October 7th.
Lorraine typically prefers using plastic bottles over glass, wanting to avoid breakage while tossing them from Eastbourne pier. Yet, she admitted this habit has landed her in hot water before. Pier staff have warned her that her actions could harm local wildlife.
While she found the scavenger’s actions unkind, she later realized it prompted a serious reflection on her behavior. Environmental health officials had discovered her address attached to the letter, which served as a wake-up call regarding potential legal issues.
“Eastbourne Port had previously cautioned me about dumping plastic bottles into the water, trying to put a stop to it,” she shared. “I think I won’t continue this. It’s become clear that my letters—with my name and address—could land me in trouble with the Environmental Health Agency.”
