A couple was left creeped out after opening what they believed to be a message in a bottle floating in the sea.

Although some experts believe the practice of sending bottled messages on the ocean currents dates back to before Christ, it was authors like Edgar Allen Poe and Charles Dickens who really highlighted the practice in popular culture with their respective works in the 1800s.

Both wrote about written messages that traveled the seas (Poe’s “MS. Found in a Bottle”in 1833 and Dickens’ “A Message from the Sea” in 1860), which have stood the test of time and added to the mystery and intrigue around bottled messages.

So, when one traveling couple in Australia discovered a floating bottle in the seas of a far north Queensland beach, they were probably thinking it was some sort of SOS call from a shipwrecked stranded soul, a dated note from a far-off land, or perhaps a romantic gesture from a pair of lovers far away.

…What they got was something far more bizarre.

Rick and Crystal, a couple documenting their Australian adventure on TikTok, did what any of us would have done if we found a message in a bottle – they opened it. Check out the video below:

In a video that’s now been watched more than 1.8 million times on the social media platform, it shows the moment the couple finds the bottle in the water.

After opening their “first ever” message in a bottle, the couple shakes the glass vessel in an attempt to get the note out of the top – all while a white-ish substance falls to the ground.

Before they can even get the note out of the bottle, Crystal realized she can read it from the inside. And, it turns out the note said: “Here lies the ashes of Geoffrey, if found please throw the bottle in the outgoing tide so I can continue my journey.” Yes, that white-ish substance I mentioned earlier was actually some poor guy’s ashes.

“Oh no,” Rick can be heard saying, realizing they inadvertently brought an end to Geoffrey’s ocean odyssey. The couple adds in the video description: “This was not a set up, it was a total accident.”

It wasn’t long before the video started making waves on the platform, and people flooded the comments section with their hilarious takes on the now-viral footage.

“Looks like his journey has ended twice,” one person quipped, before a second added: “I was thinking why does every message in a bottle have sand in it but never mind I guess.”

“Welcome to Australia I guess,” a third added, with a fourth saying: “Insane to me that Geoff was probs walking around a few months ago and now he’s been literally [spilled] onto the sand by strangers.”

Credit: TikTok

Responding to one comment, Rick and Crystal revealed that they did their best to try and get as much as Geoff back into the bottle.

So, the next time you see a bottle floating in the sea, it may be best just to forgo the message and let it drift away.