An international scientific expedition has revealed a South
Pacific island roughly the size of Manhattan and clearly marked
on online maps and marine charts does not, in fact, exist. The
'undiscovery' of the island -- which until now was midway
between Australia and New Caledonia -- highlights how much there
still is to learn about the oceans, scientists say. "We saw this
mysterious island on all the scientific maps and weather maps
but not on this one navigational chart that was on our ship,"
Ph.D student Sabin Zahirovic, part of the research team on board
the RV Southern Surveyor, told CNN. "So we decided to go see if
it was actually there." The ship didn't find an island The
island, identified as Sandy Island by Google Maps and Sable
Island on others, was supposed to be quite large in size -- 156
square kilometers (60 square miles) -- but the ship sailed right
through the area where the island was supposed to be. "The
captain was actually quite nervous because the island was
showing up on all the maps," Za