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Sandy Island, the Undiscovered Country

Posted by timothy on from the proof-of-global-warming dept.

Big Hairy Ian writes "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."

56 of 182 comments (clear)

  1. Kate... by Drophet · · Score: 5, Funny

    We have to go back!

    1. Re:Kate... by vivtho · · Score: 3, Funny

      FTFA The sea level was 1400+ metres below the sea level ... that would be a hell of a tide

    2. Re:Kate... by jhoegl · · Score: 4, Funny

      Thanks jerk. I hadnt seen any part of Lost yet and I totally thought about being bored and suicidal enough at some point that I would want to watch it one day.

    3. Re:Kate... by slim · · Score: 5, Insightful

      It's too late. The joy of Lost was the promise of a satisfactory conclusion to a coherent story arc. Now we know that there isn't one.

    4. Re:Kate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      No!

      That's not true!

      That's impossible!

    5. Re:Kate... by MightyMartian · · Score: 2

      Believe me. He just saved you the horrors of the final episode, where you say, at the end of it, "WTF! I suffered through the fifth and sixth seasons and this is what you hand me as a tie-it-all-together episode?"

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    6. Re:Kate... by mark-t · · Score: 2

      Because even the highest sea level rise estimates that could be attributed to global warming so far cannot account for a sea level change of over 1400 meters.

      --
      File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
    7. Re:Kate... by davester666 · · Score: 5, Funny

      That it ended wasn't enough of a satisfactory conclusion?

      --
      Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
    8. Re:Kate... by queequeg1 · · Score: 2

      Yes, a spoiler alert was definitely justified.

      SPOILER ALERT!!!!

      that hot chick in The Crying Game is really a dude

      The white whale lives

      Jesus dies.

    9. Re:Kate... by dbIII · · Score: 2

      Here's a plot fragment:
      The characters are walking through the jungle when they encounter a (rolls dice, gets 45, looks up table) Polar Bear!

    10. Re:Kate... by witherstaff · · Score: 2

      The idea of shows filming their season cliff hangers before a renewal makes it hard for shows to function. Although with Lost building up hype, or the BSG "They have a plan" was just outright lies. TV isn't alone on dragging things out. Any Wheel of Time fan had to feel cheated when it started taking over a page to describe a dress or over 2 decades to finish a trilogy.

      On TV Fringe has somewhat closed the hanging threads.I'm glad they managed to get a 1/2 season to work on this. Eureka did the same thing with a half season closer. I recall Angel was notified they weren't being picked up so Whedon decided to go for broke on the ending. But it's far too rare.

    11. Re:Kate... by maxwell+demon · · Score: 2

      Well, at least with Star Wars, there's still an element of surprise left. In the next version you see, will Han shoot first? Or will he shoot second? Or won't he shoot at all?

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
  2. Good. Gooooood.... by asdf7890 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Excellent, my evil island cloaking device is functioning perfectly. They'll never know my nefarious plans until they are too late to do anything about them!

    1. Re:Good. Gooooood.... by 0123456 · · Score: 4, Informative

      You are John Galt and I claim my five gold dollars.

  3. Monsters be here by slashmojo · · Score: 4, Funny

    It was actually just a really really big whale.

  4. Had to read the ad by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 2

    Sandy Island: reserve before departure

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  5. Funny! by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The funny thing is Google seems to have doctored the satellite photos to put a dark blob where this fictitious island is supposed to be.

    1. Re:Funny! by EasyTarget · · Score: 3, Informative

      They seem to have a system that matches known land areas (they incorrectly have this identified as land) and remove the 'blue fog' they use in lieu of real aerial photography over most deep water. You can also see this effect any place with shoals, sandbanks, small island groups etc.

      --
      "Oops, I always forget the purpose of competition is to divide people into winners and losers." - Hobbes
    2. Re:Funny! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      The funny thing is Google seems to have doctored the satellite photos to put a dark blob where this fictitious island is supposed to be.

      I doesn't show up on my new iOS 6 Maps app ... and here I thought this missing island was Apple's fault.

    3. Re:Funny! by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You mean any place they think (or want you to think) there are shoals, sand banks or small island groups. If Google doesn't correct this within a few days, I'll be surprised. As of now, there's a 15-mile long virtual island out there where ships have sailed and say there's no such thing.
      S 19 13' E 156 56'

    4. Re:Funny! by Albanach · · Score: 5, Funny

      If Google doesn't correct this within a few days, I'll be surprised.

      I'll be surprised if Google doesn't announce their street view cams have been adapted and installed on board ships. That island is out there somewhere, and I trust Google to find it.

    5. Re:Funny! by sjames · · Score: 5, Funny

      It is, a bunch of Apple fanatics with shovels actually removed the island rather than admit Apple was wrong.

    6. Re:Funny! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      My Times Atlas (big papery thing, pub. 1992) has a long thin ellipse-ish shape with a couple of small blobs on it in about the right place that might indicate something was once there.
      Called 'Sable' (French for 'sand') and just to the left of the 160 line, looks like it got washed away or fell over some time in the last 20 years.
      Assuming it existed - or is this the 'copyright check' glitch added? It is not a nautical chart, just a home atlas.

      Times atlas of the world, concise edition, 6th ed.
      ISBN: 0 7230 0493 5

    7. Re:Funny! by HiThere · · Score: 3, Informative

      FWIW, it's common for map makers and atlas makers to include some false streets and features. This is to enable them to prove that someone else copied from them. Perhaps this is one of those receiving publicity?

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
    8. Re:Funny! by perplexing.reader · · Score: 2

      S 19 13' E 156 56'

      Actually, Sandy Island is S 19 13' E 159 56' not E 156, maybe this is the reason why they cant find it!

    9. Re:Funny! by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 2

      S 19 13' E 156 56'

      Actually, Sandy Island is S 19 13' E 159 56' not E 156, maybe this is the reason why they cant find it!

      Actually, Sandy Island isn't there, either.

  6. Copyright Trap, perhaps? by Ellis+D.+Tripp · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Putting non-existent features onto published maps to provide proof of future copyright infringement is a well-known practice, after all...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry

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    1. Re:Copyright Trap, perhaps? by chill · · Score: 5, Informative

      RTFA

      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.

      --
      Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
    2. Re:Copyright Trap, perhaps? by wvmarle · · Score: 5, Interesting

      That are normally dead-end streets in the middle of nowhere that are not likely to cause any issues other than raised eyebrows, and someone thinking "oh, a piece of road to no-where gone". Putting a complete island on a map where the sea is supposedly 1400m deep, that's a totally different thing. Such an island could be used as orientation point: a single island in the vast ocean is great for that. Not finding an island where it's expected, can give serious problems.

    3. Re:Copyright Trap, perhaps? by Indefinite,+Ephemera · · Score: 2

      Phantom islands aren't really anything new in themselves, but they usuallly date from before satellite imagery: a ship would spot what looked like an island in the distance, nobody on board would bother to go and confirm the existence of terra firma, the island would be named and reported to cartographers later on, and it would keep turning up on charts until someone tried and failed to find it. Some of the better stories that grew up around these islands are in this book: http://www.librarything.com/work/20956/

  7. Pumice? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pumice_raft

    1. Re:Pumice? by stavrica · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Pumice seems most plausible.

      We obtained worldwide elevation data from NOAA, for our BattleCell land conquest game. (a super-evolved version of Risk) Game coordinates for Sandy Island are: -1911,15956

      Sure enough, the NOAA data shows an elevation of 1 meter, for the entire Sandy Point island.

      Possibly, the island was a dynamically generated object, based on the original NOAA elevation data. What else, besides pumice could generate such readings?

  8. Some folks will believe anything... by Third+Position · · Score: 5, Funny

    But when scientists from the University of Sydney went to the area, they found only the blue ocean of the Coral Sea.

    April Fools!

    --
    American Third Position
    Finally, a real choice!
  9. ship? by calmond · · Score: 2

    I have no idea of the scale of this island, but I find it strange that it has the basic contours of a ship. Is it possible a ship was originally pictured and misidentified?

    1. Re:ship? by __aaltlg1547 · · Score: 2

      Not unless the ship is 12 miles long.

    2. Re:ship? by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      Look at the scale. That would be one rather large vessel.

      I think the earth got Photoshopped.

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
  10. That's exactly how I felt by joeflies · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... The last time I visited Alderaan

  11. It doesn't seem to be news... by _Shad0w_ · · Score: 3, Informative

    Given it doesn't appear on the nautical charts of the HO responsible for the area, I would suggest that it was already proven not to exist.

    --

    Yeah, I had a sig once; I got bored of it.

  12. An idea by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    I propose we call the island "Amercia" and put Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich on it. That's the "New Amercia" Mitt was talking about. I'm sure there's plenty others we can put on the new island.

  13. That's where .... by PPH · · Score: 3, Funny

    ... Mitt Romney had his off-shore bank account!

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  14. R'lyeh by plopez · · Score: 5, Funny

    ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

    --
    putting the 'B' in LGBTQ+
    1. Re:R'lyeh by Grayhand · · Score: 2

      ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn

      A translation for all heretic non believers. R'lyeh only rises when the stars are right. All other times Cthulhu lays dreaming on the bottom of the ocean. I have a feeling it may rise on December 21st, fingers crossed.

  15. For Sale: Sandy Island by gmuslera · · Score: 2

    Current legislation have no problem charging millions for Imaginary Property

  16. Serious Safty Error? by Frosty+Piss · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If this is on navigational maps, it could be a serious safty issue - not in avoiding it, but if for example a ship in distress navigated to it verses a actual existing piece of land...

    --
    If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
  17. Dolphin lure by Jaza · · Score: 5, Funny

    This is just a marketing stunt by the area's resident Dolphin community. They want to lure tourists to this patch of the sea, so they can do some backflips in return for loose change and hearty gifts of plankton.

    1. Re:Dolphin lure by Spykk · · Score: 2

      How do you think the dolphins paid all the whales to pose as the island?

  18. Re:Google Satellite View is interesting by alexhs · · Score: 4, Informative

    What is stranger is that on Google maps' satellite view at that exact location there is a black area

    For lands, Google Maps is displaying satellite/aerial imagery. For seas/oceans, they're displaying a seabed topology map. The black is just the color of the ocean as seen by satellites, showing through the sea/land mask.

    --
    I have discovered a truly marvelous proof of killer sig, which this margin is too narrow to contain.
  19. Pumice? by slashmojo · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Perhaps it was just a floating pumice island.. http://blogs.smh.com.au/science/archives/2006/12/post_3.html

  20. Obvious by Jason+Levine · · Score: 3, Funny

    The truth should be obvious to any Doctor Who fan. The "it's only ocean" that the scientists saw was obviously a perception filter. The island is being used as a staging area for a Dalek assault.

    --
    My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    1. Re:Obvious by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 4, Funny

      They've been planning this for years. Wheelchair access is a Dalek conspiracy.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
  21. By Jingo! by timbit · · Score: 2

    It's Leshp!

  22. Re:It was never added to OpenStreetMap by hobbes+vs+boyle · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Oh please. There are plenty of good reasons to prefer OSM over Google Maps and other non-free maps and I am an active contributor myself. But using this case as an argument? No. I've seen plenty of phantom cities added to OSM, either by mistake or intentionally. My favorite was a road shaped like the Batman symbol somewhere in the mountains of Washington. In addition, OSM does import a whole bunch of data (from government sources etc.) and thus it's quite possible that they could replicate someone else's mistakes.

  23. Obligatory by alexo · · Score: 3, Informative

    map

  24. QUESTION! by alexmipego · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I get that an error or bad pixel matching might have misdetected the island but... who named Sandy Island?

  25. False item planted for copyright fingerprint? by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 2

    Didn't encyclopedia and dictionary authors in days gone by add spurious entries to ensure they could back up any copyright violation claims?
    Google maps. Hmm...

    Or perhaps it's the Island of San Seriffe...

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  26. Re: It's on maps over 100 years old by qubezz · · Score: 2

    There's a pretty clever blog that has found even older references to the island right where it shouldn't be: