[HN Gopher] Obscure islands I find interesting
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Obscure islands I find interesting
Author : venusgirdle
Score : 242 points
Date : 2025-02-07 22:23 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (amanvir.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (amanvir.com)
| closewith wrote:
| Wonderful site in mobile.
| rozap wrote:
| We don't need apps. We just need site to behave like this one.
| mrbluecoat wrote:
| Palmyra Atoll looks beautiful. Smooth zoom animation on my
| Android mobile
| achillesheels wrote:
| What about the Pitcairn Islands?
| BeetleB wrote:
| Pitcairn is anything but obscure. It's very famous (and
| notorious in the 90's).
| 1970-01-01 wrote:
| Author should also find the Alaskan archipelagos interesting. The
| city of Unalaska is ancient.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unalaska,_Alaska
|
| https://web.archive.org/web/20090930132651/http://www.unalas...
| kmoser wrote:
| The "Cosmic Zoom" [1] style animations are really well done.
|
| [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgfwCrKe_Fk
| mojomark wrote:
| Well, I enjoyed my last 20 minutes perusing such hidden gems as
| "christmas island", "just room enough island", and my personal
| favorite - "the world's most recursive island" in Canada.
|
| Well done - saved and shared :)
| ncruces wrote:
| Yeah, totally: recursive wins.
| jusujusu wrote:
| My favorite, not on the list, is Fakaofo atoll. It even has a
| shipwreck, visible on google maps.
| mmanfrin wrote:
| Adding a fact to Midway island: it is part of the Hawaiian
| archipelago, and all the islands in the chain both before it and
| after it are part of the Hawaiian state, but Midway is not. It is
| considered an 'insular area'.
| anotheryou wrote:
| really needs a "back to all islands" button :)
| skrebbel wrote:
| scroll the map a bit
| physhster wrote:
| Johnston Atoll belongs there
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnston_Atoll
| Mistletoe wrote:
| That huge volcano on Tristan da Cunha makes me nervous.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Mary%27s_Peak
| doodlebugging wrote:
| When they mention the Sentinelese who inhabit North Sentinel
| Island in the Indian Ocean as being uncontacted they have to
| ignore the shipwreck in the inlet on the northwest end of the
| island.
|
| I'm guessing that the mariners who found themselves on the island
| did not make a very good first impression as representatives of
| the larger outside world and that this contributed to the
| hostility towards outsiders that the Sentinelese exhibit.
|
| I know there was a bible-thumper a few years back who found
| himself skewered while trying to help the North Sentinelese find
| Jesus. That seems like a predictable outcome when you consider
| that the inhabitants have to be closer to everything that is real
| and important on their island than we modern people will ever be
| and likely have their constructs about how the world works so
| they don't need someone else's Jesus to keep them grounded.
|
| Interestingly enough, the only place where I saw any clear
| indication that the island was inhabited was on the north end of
| the island near the inlet where the ship is run aground and sunk.
| Just north of the tree line you can clearly see a well-worn path
| leading from the woods east of the wreck to the inlet.
|
| I'll bet they keep a weather eye out for any new contraptions not
| of their own making.
| davidw wrote:
| Path on North Sentinel island:
|
| https://www.google.com/maps/@11.5920005,92.2195112,225a,35y,...
| doodlebugging wrote:
| Thanks for doing something I should've done myself. Popping
| out to Google Maps gives a higher resolution view of the
| island and with that one can easily pick out a network of
| trails around the island though I haven't seen clear
| indications of settlements yet. I think you can even see on
| the east side of the island at least one man-made fish trap
| similar to those found in other parts of the world.
|
| It's clear that they travel all over the island making use of
| the resources available. I wonder whether anyone has reported
| seeing them swim. Some of the trails lead to small inlets and
| across to small islets on the perimeter which are now
| isolated from the main island.
|
| Anyway, thanks for this post. It enhances the comment above.
| davidw wrote:
| The tree canopy looks to be pretty thick to make out any
| settlements, at least for my eyes.
| narrator wrote:
| They are hostile to outsiders because they have no immunity to
| modern diseases and in the past, each time someone tried to
| contact them a lot of them died.
| doodlebugging wrote:
| This probably plays into their desire to remain isolated. If
| every time some wanderer landed on their island a lot of
| their people died then it makes sense that they would not
| welcome anyone from outside.
| ellyagg wrote:
| How do you envision the castaways made a bad impression? It's
| not like every band of explorers immediately tries to open a
| Walmart or something.
|
| My guess is that the dominant society anywhere will make you
| pay for not knowing their culture.
| doodlebugging wrote:
| I think the comment about newcomers bringing diseases that
| killed many of their people would explain why they don't
| welcome outsiders.
| FredPret wrote:
| Neal Stephenson wrote a book about Vikings discovering a Wal-
| Mart via time travel, and boy do they like it.
|
| (rise and fall of D.O.D.O.)
| xadhominemx wrote:
| "the inhabitants have to be closer to everything that is real
| and important on their island than we modern people will ever
| be and likely have"
|
| They undoubtedly have their own absurd mythology describing
| their origins and the workings of the universe
| doodlebugging wrote:
| As they should. That is how people maintain generations-long
| connections to ancestors and group history, whether it be an
| oral tradition in songs or stories or a set of written tales.
| xadhominemx wrote:
| Or maybe they rape and beat their woman, suffer from high
| infant mortality and often die excruciating deaths after
| moderate injuries like a broken arm or cut.
| cwmoore wrote:
| Maybe Jesus bringing them penicillin and condoms is worse
| somehow
| doodlebugging wrote:
| If you're hoping to fill the open position vacated by
| bible-thumping Jesus I'm sorry to inform you that the
| position will apparently remain open for the forseeable
| future.
|
| Perhaps your skills are more useful in Texas or in the
| southern US where I understand that problems like you
| describe are trending up.
| xadhominemx wrote:
| I'm not a bible thumper but I also don't promulgate
| cringe noble savage mythology either
| tolerance wrote:
| You sound like an interesting fellow to converse with in line
| toward the gallows.
| doodlebugging wrote:
| If I should ever find myself in a line like that I will be
| sure to remember to ask any observers if they are or if they
| know tolerance. Perhaps then we can have this conversation
| covering any subjects that you find interesting and in the
| process conjure enough of a distraction for the guards that
| we might make our escape to the freedom that we both no doubt
| deserve.
|
| Happy Trails.
| AlotOfReading wrote:
| They've encountered and traded with people from outside the
| island, like Anstice Justin during contact attempts between the
| 80s and 2000s [0]. The direct contact attempts were halted in
| the 90s due to ethical/health concerns for the sentinelese
| though, so expeditions after that point were gift-giving
| missions to monitor and support friendly relations.
|
| They became more hostile to expeditions after some fishermen
| were killed on the island and recovery teams attempted to use
| helicopters to rescue the bodies before the islanders could
| bury them.
|
| [0] https://www.nature.com/articles/d44151-024-00213-5
| doodlebugging wrote:
| Thanks for the historical context. It makes sense that they
| would prefer not to interact with outsiders.
| CarVac wrote:
| The recursive island in lake pin is not quite in the right spot,
| the real one is to the east.
|
| That said, this is the first online satellite map I've seen that
| actually has enough detail to resolve said island.
| kilroy123 wrote:
| I love it. This is so my thing! I've spent hours and hours on the
| map virtually, hopping around weird random islands and atolls.
|
| I'm obsessed with weird Islands, and I've been to many: in the
| Caribbean, Mauritius, Cannarys, Madeiras, Malta, Antarctica,
| Svalbard, and many across SE Asia.
|
| My wish list: - Midway Atoll
|
| - Pitcairn Islands
|
| - Easter Island
|
| - Faroe Islands
|
| - Wrangel Island
|
| - Sao Tome - Chatham Island
|
| I could go on for a long time.
| leptons wrote:
| Same, Google Earth has been a rabbit hole for me. One of my
| favorites is Caroline Island in Kiribati (no, never been there)
|
| https://www.google.com/maps/place/Caroline+Island/@-9.95855,...
|
| If I were a billionaire, I'd be on my boat headed there just to
| see what it's like. There's nothing there, but it looks amazing
| from above. I've seen a few videos of people visiting it, but I
| still want to go there.
| adolph wrote:
| In the notes about St Tristan de Cunha, "youngest English accent"
| does that mean the most recently split from England accents? Does
| that exclude Antarctic English?
|
| _Tristan 's isolation is also the reason it has the world's
| youngest English accent, which is notably distinct from standard
| British English._
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Atlantic_English
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antarctic_English
| spacecadet wrote:
| If you like this stuff, this is a great little book for the
| coffee table or bathroom:
| https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2016/01/08/fifty-islands...
| sponaugle wrote:
| The wikipedia page for the Tristan da Cuhna island is really
| interesting. It is amazing that a small population was able to
| survive there over such a large period of time with just
| occasional ship access (sometimes years apart).
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tristan_da_Cunha
|
| The entire population was evacuated in 1961 due to the eruption
| of the mountain on the island, but most people made it back to
| the island in 1963.
|
| Also interesting that just recently got Starlink internet.
|
| Very cool.
| ilamont wrote:
| These isolated populations have higher incidence of genetic
| diseases. From the Wikipedia page you cited:
|
| _There are instances of health problems attributed to
| endogamy, including glaucoma. In addition, there is a very high
| (42%) incidence of asthma among the population, and research by
| Noe Zamel of the University of Toronto has led to discoveries
| about the genetic nature of the disease. Three of the original
| settlers of the island had asthma._
| karaterobot wrote:
| A related, really excellent book: _Atlas of Remote Islands_ by
| Judith Schalansky. I see that the hardcover is now $66, which is
| unfortunate because that 's the way to read it. It's beautiful!
| Plankaluel wrote:
| Thank you for the tip! I just bought the (german) original
| which is fortunately still in print and very affordable as a
| hard cover.
| karaterobot wrote:
| Awesome, hope you like it!
| kneel wrote:
| 20deg37'34.0"S 166deg18'20.1"E
| gavin_gee wrote:
| well done
| doodlebugging wrote:
| A long time ago I encountered someone that I didn't fancy who
| was looking for this. I wish I had known that it existed. Many
| thanks.
| speckx wrote:
| Regarding Tristan da Cunha. I've been meaning to read "Three
| years in Tristan da Cunha by Katherine Mary Barrow", see
| https://gutenberg.org/ebooks/8213. It's a first-hand account,
| written in a diary format with dated entries, providing a look at
| life in this remote British settlement during the early 1900s.
| Pedro_Ribeiro wrote:
| Incredible site! Thanks for posting.
| Neuronaut wrote:
| The island of Socotra in Yemen is also a unique island with
| endemic species.
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Socotra
| BerislavLopac wrote:
| One of my favourites is missing from the list:
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deception_Island
| contingencies wrote:
| I discovered a natural, tropical island which really exists, has
| good height above water and is available for purchase but is not
| visible on _Google Maps_ satellite view.
| dieantwoord wrote:
| Tokelau
|
| https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tokelau
|
| One of my favourite obscure islands (haven't been there).
|
| Very remote. If you've ever seen a .tk domain, this TLD is from
| this island.
| somishere wrote:
| Inchconnachan is one of the more interesting desert islands I
| came across while living in Scotland. My introduction to its
| local inhabitants, expat Antipodeans like myself, was wildly
| unexpected.
|
| https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inchconnachan
| Jun8 wrote:
| This was very interesting info and the site design is awesome.
|
| We always dream of going to distant planets and stars but Earth
| itself has so many weird, beautiful, and interesting places.
|
| I've added "living for an extended period of time, eg a year on
| Devon Island" to my list of To Do Someday list! Sure, it drops to
| -50C, but living there alone would be closest to being _The
| Martian_.
|
| Is there any way to live there self sufficiently you think?
| Assume you have money to buy latest tech and bring it there: a
| few m^2 of solar cells, battery, small hut made of highly
| insulating material. What else?
| dinkumthinkum wrote:
| This is a nice example of using maps to tell a kind of story.
| Many people try but over-complicate it.
| suzzer99 wrote:
| Here's a question I have that maybe one of the random experts we
| have on HN can answer:
|
| In Castaway, Tom Hanks estimates that for the searchers to find
| him, they'd have to be searching an area the size of Texas. I
| think later Helen Hunt says he was even farther out of their
| search zone than he thought.
|
| But let's just say it's the size of Texas or even twice the size
| of Texas. Are there so many tiny islands in that part of the
| Pacific that you can't just do a quick fly-by of all of them to
| see if someone has written HELP on the beach?
|
| Are there islands that size that we're on any maps in 2000? Seems
| unlikely with satellite imagery.
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