Topic: Island in the South Pacific called 'Sandy Island', which features on various maps, doesn't exist
Anonymous A started this discussion 14 years ago #23,615
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20442487
A South Pacific island, shown on marine charts and world maps as well as on Google Earth and Google Maps, does not exist, Australian scientists say.
The supposedly sizeable strip of land, named Sandy Island on Google maps, was positioned midway between Australia and French-governed New Caledonia.
But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.
The phantom island has featured in publications for at least a decade.
Scientist Maria Seton, who was on the ship, said that the team was expecting land, not 1,400m (4,620ft) of deep ocean.
"We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area - very deep," Dr Seton, from the University of Sydney, told the AFP news agency after the 25-day voyage.
"It's on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We're really puzzled. It's quite bizarre.
"How did it find its way onto the maps? We just don't know, but we plan to follow up and find out."
Australian newspapers have reported that the invisible island would sit within French territorial waters if it existed - but does not feature on French government maps.
The supposedly sizeable strip of land, named Sandy Island on Google maps, was positioned midway between Australia and French-governed New Caledonia.
But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.
The phantom island has featured in publications for at least a decade.
Scientist Maria Seton, who was on the ship, said that the team was expecting land, not 1,400m (4,620ft) of deep ocean.
"We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area - very deep," Dr Seton, from the University of Sydney, told the AFP news agency after the 25-day voyage.
"It's on Google Earth and other maps so we went to check and there was no island. We're really puzzled. It's quite bizarre.
"How did it find its way onto the maps? We just don't know, but we plan to follow up and find out."
Australian newspapers have reported that the invisible island would sit within French territorial waters if it existed - but does not feature on French government maps.
Anonymous A (OP) double-posted this 14 years ago, 42 seconds later[^] [v] #368,708
Google Maps: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps/place?q=Sandy+Island&hl=en&ftid=0x6eaf09916a3817d7:0x8ee57bb8cd358b4
★henn★ joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 1 minute later, 2 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #368,711
@OP
I'm not sayin' aliens... but aliens.
I'm not sayin' aliens... but aliens.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 14 years ago, 1 minute later, 3 minutes after the original post[^] [v] #368,713
Anonymous C joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 13 hours later, 13 hours after the original post[^] [v] #368,938
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 14 years ago, 1 minute later, 13 hours after the original post[^] [v] #368,939
@previous (C)
A spokesman from the service told Australian newspapers that while some map makers intentionally include phantom streets to prevent copyright infringements, that was was not usually the case with nautical charts because it would reduce confidence in them.
Anonymous D joined in and replied with this 14 years ago, 2 hours later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #368,950
@368,938 (C)That's what I thought at first too - a copyright mark that just got copied and re-copied until it looked official. Google's ocean floor data seems to support the idea that this is more than just a random cartographer's mark though.
Anonymous A (OP) replied with this 14 years ago, 5 minutes later, 15 hours after the original post[^] [v] #368,951
@previous (D)
There was an explanation for that. Something about how the software will try to make land higher resolution than ocean, so when there's nothing there it'll just be a black patch of high res water.
It's weird how it's present on like 50/50 of maps. It's on a map of I have, although the text 'CORAL SEA' obscures it slightly. Strange how it's taken this long for somebody to notice.
There was an explanation for that. Something about how the software will try to make land higher resolution than ocean, so when there's nothing there it'll just be a black patch of high res water.
It's weird how it's present on like 50/50 of maps. It's on a map of I have, although the text 'CORAL SEA' obscures it slightly. Strange how it's taken this long for somebody to notice.
(Edited 25 seconds later.)