Two messages in a bottle in the same week -- what are the odds?

The time-honored message in a bottle has had a respectable week. On the one hand a group of 88 South American migrants trying to reach the US were abandoned at sea but then rescued thanks to a bottled help plea, and on the other hand a girl who tossed a note inside a wine bottle off a cruise ship just for fun received a response five months later.

The would-be immigrants from Ecuador and Peru were abandoned by their smugglers due to a leaky boat. The women in the group are credited with the idea of tying a note in a bottle to the line of a passing long-liner fishing boat, which was indeed discovered and acted upon by the fishermen when they later reeled the line back in.

The polite note from a 12-year-old girl on a cruise ship thoughtfully included cash for return postage and asked the recipient of the by-then barnacle-coated bottle, who turned out to be a kayaker, to get in touch. He did. We notice news reports describe the girl as "bored" on her cruise...this is a sure sign that her parents should have consulted with a cruise expert to pick a trip that would have been more fun for their daughter.

TheBostonChannel.com: Girl's message in a bottle gets response
TheBostonChannel.com: 88 stranded people rescued after sending message in bottle