On hearing about the discovery or
rather 'non- discovery' of Sandy island
in the news this autumn, I
couldn't help but want to find out more about it.
The identification
of the island goes back to Captain Cook who charted it in
1774 and
it has been subsequently transcribed in maps and nautical
charts
ever since. It had even become a feature of google maps until an
Australian based surveying ship discovered that at the believed
location
the sea floor was never less than 4,300 feet lower than sea
level! The island
was also included in a British Admiralty chart in
1908 with a note about the
source of its charting to a whaling ship
called the Velocity in the year 1876.
Apparently the ship's master
had reported that there was a series of "heavy
breakers"
and some "Sandy Islets." Perhaps Sandy island is the new
Cortes Bank, a place where you might find the worlds biggest waves
when
the weather conditions are just right! Coming from a faith
background and having always been intrigued by the
way that written
historical accounts have traditionally been copied down
and passed
on - along with any inherent transcription errors to future
generations. The Sandy island story seemed to be an ironic modern
day
parallel to the way in which the act of recording or mapping
combined with
the element of time can sometimes produce unforeseen
consequences.
The fairly recent occurrence of an image of a
crucified father christmas
during the festive season in a Tokyo
shopping centre is well documented.
In this incarnation, the island
is roughly spherical rather than long and thin
as Cook's
cartographer had drawn. In this contemporary and, fairly playful
take on a traditional nativity scene, most of the usual characters
are missing.
This time, there is just one solitary female figure,
accompanied by her new
born, ‘the light of the world’ and
surrounded by more gifts. And surrounding
this pair is the cool
blue/green suffuse glow of the Coral sea.
On the 26th November 2012
Google Maps removed all reference to Sandy
Island and by the 29th of
the same month the National Geographical Society
had struck it off
too. Please let us not let the memory of Sandy Island sink
from our
collective consciousness!!