What is Phantom island?
[[File:Shag-Rocks-en-Route-to-South-Georgia.jpg|thumb|[[Shag Rocks, South Georgia]] may be the source of phantom islands in the Atlantic, the [[Aurora Islands]].]] A '''phantom island''' is an [[island]] that was thought to exist at some point in time. Because of this, the island was shown on a [[map]]. Later, the islands were removed from maps. Some islands are described and later on change their name, or with the description given it is possible to associate a real island. Other islands sink below sea level because of natural causes such as [[erosion]]. Such islands still exist. Two examples are [[Earnest Legouve Reef]] and [[Maria-Theresa Reef]] in the South Pacific. Because they are far away from ships' routes, their existence can not be proved so far. In the year 1908, [[Robert Peary]] claimed to have found a lost continent, called [[Crocker Land]]. People such as [[João Vaz Corte-Real]] were rewarded for finding islands that turned out to be phantom islands. In the case given, the phantom island was [[Bacalao]]. The island showed up on maps in the early 16th century. [[Baccalieu Island]] is probably named after the phantom island. Some phantom islands were later ''found''. That way [[Baja California peninsula|Baja California]] was first thought to be an island. Later, people found it was in fact a [[peninsula]]. [[Thule]] was discovered in antiquity; in modern times, people who found it may have talked about [[Norway]], the [[Orkney Islands]], [[Shetland]] or [[Scandinavia]]. Other interpretations include [[Iceland]], [[Greenland]], or the island [[Saaremaa]] in the [[Baltic Sea]]. Other phantom islands may exist because of mistakes in [[navigation]], or [[optical illusion]]s, such as [[superior mirage]]. One example of this is [[New South Greenland]], which was observed in the [[Weddell Sea]] in 1823, and has not been seen since. Some phantom islands may have existed, but they have been destroyed, or are no longer above the water line. These include [[Thompson Island (South Atlantic)|Thompson Island]