Missing Pacific island riddle solved
AUSTRALIA: A New Zealand researcher Monday claimed to have solved the
riddle of a mystery South Pacific island shown on Google Earth and world
maps which does not exist, blaming a whaling ship from 1876.
The phantom landmass in the Coral Sea is shown as Sandy Island on
Google Earth and Google maps and is supposedly midway between Australia
and the French-governed New Caledonia.
The Times Atlas of the World appears to identify it as Sable Island,
but according to Australian scientists who went searching last month
during a geological expedition it could not be found.
Intrigued, Shaun Higgins, a researcher at Auckland Museum, started
investigating and claimed it never existed, with a whaling ship the
source of the original error.
"As far as I can tell, the island was recorded by the whaling ship
the Velocity," Higgins told ABC radio, adding that the ship's master
reported a series of "heavy breakers" and some "sandy islets".
AFP
|