Talk:Sandy Island, New Caledonia

A fact from Sandy Island, New Caledonia appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 25 November 2012 (check views). The text of the entry was as follows:

Did you know... that Sandy Island, although presented in some maps, does not actually exist?

A record of the entry may be seen at Wikipedia:Recent additions/2012/November.

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This article has been mentioned by a media organization:

Luke Harding (November 22, 2012). "The Pacific island that never was". The Guardian.

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1

New citation[edit]

I'm still new to editing so I thought I'd throw this up here to discuss before I head into the article and start editing. It's an article from an industry magazine with details from the Australian Hydrographic Service (AHS) which includes:

A theory from AHS for the reported sightings in 1876 supported by modern research by the AHS: in 1985 they found a submarine volcano "and noted areas of floating pumice" which they "strongly suspected it may have been an area of floating pumice which was sighted in 1876"
A date the island was removed from AHS products: 22 March 1985

"It's on the Map – But Does it Exist?". Hydro International. Geomares Publishing. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 17 March 2013.

Thanks Wrenoud (talk) 17:50, 17 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

This is a great source, Wrenoud, and adds a lot of clarity to the situation. Have at it! Strebe (talk) 22:13, 17 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

So I take it that Strebe no longer believes that the nonexistence of Sandy Island is "just a big misunderstanding." I note the following statements from the AHS article: "The phantom island recently ’undiscovered’ was removed from the Australian produced International charts on 22 March 1985 following a deliberate and controlled search by the AHS. This search specifically proved it did not exist." Note that this was in 1985, giving the lie to the claim that something island-like had existed above water recently. "The image on Google Earth has been clearly altered, by either accident or design, but bears none of the characteristics of any other reef, shoal or island that can be seen nearby." I noted the altered nature of the Google image above, something Strebe called an "uninformed, officious pronouncement." It seems that Strebe would like to have it both ways -- abandoning his original position without ever actually having to admit that he was mistaken. RandomCritic (talk) 15:07, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Does RandomCritic have something—anything—to say that is pertinent to this article? Or to any article? If not, what is “his” purpose and why is he violating Wikipedia guidelines by using an article’s Talk page to blather on about people’s opinions and attempting to incite pissing matches? Strebe (talk) 23:06, 29 March 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Due east?[edit]

Quote In 1774, Captain James Cook charted a "Sandy Island" 420 kilometers due east ...

But due east of where? 217.42.216.174 (talk) 19:47, 18 October 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Not cited[edit]

The first sentence citation is in error, and should be edited (I do not know how; never done this before). A BBC article is cited as the authority for the words "...removed from official French charts in 1979." However, the BBC article does not indicate "1979" or any other year. The article simply says "...the invisible island... does not feature on French government maps." --99.225.220.224 (talk) 00:47, 1 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

It's cited in later sections of the article. That first sentence originally didn't mention the 1979 chart removal, which is why it's not cited by the article. I've added the other ref to it. - M0rphzone (talk) 21:59, 3 November 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Island first was said to exist around 2000[edit]

According to to http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2236952/Phantom-island-shown-Google-Earth-does-exist-Australian-scientists-discover-outcrop-Pacific-voyage.html the island was most likely first thought to exist around 2000. The BBC article cited on this page only mentions the island having been thought to exist for "at least a decade." Unless there is a good source saying that belief in the island dates back further than that, I will change the article to reflect the idea that island has only been listed for about a decade and not a century. TimMagee (talk) 21:23, 2 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Have you not read the article for this Talk page? It lists myriad references about the island starting in the late 1800s. Strebe (talk) 08:58, 3 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you. It now makes sense to me. TimMagee (talk) 19:42, 3 February 2015 (UTC)[reply]

Tagged in Google Earth[edit]

NW of Fairway Plateau, which would be a more plausible location, given some depths of ~ 50 ft.NanooGeek — Preceding undated comment added 16:29, 6 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

1974 or 1979[edit]

There are 2 claims in article:

"It was removed from French hydrographic charts in 1974."
"As noted above, the French Naval and Oceanographic Service removed the island on its nautical charts in 1979."

Perhaps someone can solve the mystery? --MGA73 (talk) 16:10, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The original, incorrect 1979 year that appeared in three places only got corrected in two, as can be seen in edit history. Thanks for noting it; I have corrected the third appearance after confirming with other sources. Strebe (talk) 17:49, 6 February 2021 (UTC)[reply]

DuckDuckGo Maps Satellite View[edit]

Not sure exactly how their satellite images are compiled or sourced, but as of July 25, 2023 the island is visible in their satellite view. It appears exactly where the first article image (Landsat) shows nothing. It doesn’t appear to show clear sand like the islands to the west, so possibly it’s picking up a now-submerged island through clear water? 2601:8A:500:36C0:C01:A103:3BEA:27E7 (talk) 01:47, 26 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]

You can see remnants of the fictitious island in Google Maps as well. That’s not a satellite view that you are looking at; it’s a composite of satellite with other data. Satellite can’t show you the ocean floor, of course, but the view is ocean floor, which means it came from other data. The land mask they’re using still includes Sandy Island, and so the ocean floor view gets corrupted with that. Strebe (talk) 16:25, 26 July 2023 (UTC)[reply]