Sandy Island was long believed to exist in the Coral Sea, between Australia and New Caledonia. It appeared on countless maps, weather charts, and even in digital satellite databases.
But in 2012, when a team of Australian scientists aboard the RV Southern Surveyor sailed to its coordinates, they found nothing but deep, empty sea.
The Phantom of the Coral Sea
The story begins in 1876, when the whaling ship Velocity recorded what may have been a drifting pumice raft in the region.
That sighting, mistaken for solid land, was entered into naval charts and inherited by one map after another. Over time, Sandy Island became a fixed point in the minds of cartographers, mariners, and eventually, Google Earth.
But when researchers arrived at its location in 2012, they discovered open ocean over 1,400 meters deep. There was no landmass, no reef, and no shallow shelf. Just water, and a mystery finally laid to rest.
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Why Didn’t Anyone Notice?
Cartographic errors have a long shelf life, especially in remote corners of the world. In Sandy Island’s case, the mistake was simply passed along, copied from one chart to the next for decades.
Even satellite data seemed to show a faint outline, likely caused by image glitches or shadows.
Once the mistake was confirmed, major institutions including National Geographic, Google, and hydrographic authorities updated their maps. Just like that, Sandy Island was deleted... for the second time.
Other Islands That Vanished
Sandy Island isn’t the only phantom to haunt old maps. Around the world, cartographers have chased landforms that were never really there, or disappeared shortly after being discovered:
Hy-Brasil, a fog-shrouded island said to lie west of Ireland, appeared on maps for centuries before vanishing in the 1800s.
Graham Island (Ferdinandea) erupted from the sea near Sicily in 1831. Four nations laid claim to it before it eroded back beneath the waves.
New Moore Island, a disputed territory in the Bay of Bengal, rose in the late 20th century and disappeared entirely by 2010 due to erosion.
Caspian mud-volcano islands, like one that surfaced in 2023 and vanished in 2024, appear and disappear with surprising frequency.
Why Islands Disappear
These mysterious vanishing islands tend to fall into one of several categories:
Mistaken sightings or myths: Some, like Hy-Brasil and Sandy Island, were likely never there to begin with. They originated from sailor’s tales, drifting debris, or optical illusions.
Volcanic activity: Others, such as Graham Island, emerged due to underwater eruptions—only to erode away just as quickly.
Environmental change: Real islands like New Moore have disappeared because of rising sea levels, erosion, and shifting tides.
Geological instability: In places like the Caspian Sea, natural phenomena like mud volcanoes can cause land to rise and vanish within a year.
Sandy Island had no settlements, no vegetation, and no known name in any indigenous language. It lived solely in charts and databases. And yet, its eventual erasure captured the public imagination.
In a world governed by satellites and GPS, it’s easy to believe that every corner has been mapped and measured. But Sandy Island reminds us that the Earth still has a few secrets!
Until next time,
Emails From Afar Team
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