BBC: Crew searching for Amelia Earhart arrives at crab-infested island
"...Researchers will work to locate what has been called the Taraia Object, first spotted sitting on the edge of a lagoon off Nikumaroro in satellite imagery in 2020.
Some believe it to be the wreckage of her plane, but others have expressed scepticism that it is an aircraft at all, with one theory suggesting it is a collapsed tree...."
I wonder which object they are interested in? Looks like there's a shipwreck marked there already, and visible on Google Maps. #remoteimaging
Hmm, wonder what this is... Visible only on 9/26/2026. Satellite anomaly? Caught an airplane above the island? Curious. (Sentinel-2 satellite). (Nikumaroro Island) #remoteimageing
I imagine a large colorful banner from the crabs: "WELCOME HUMANS! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO DRINK THIS FREE ALCOHOL AND TAKE A NAP! NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU! WE WILL NOT EAT YOU AND PICK THE FLESH FROM YOUR BONES!" 🤪
@ai6yr I lived with Coconut Crabs on Kwajalein. They are no joke.
@chrisod 😬
@douglasvb @chrisod See, you need to sleep on the beach slathered in BBQ sauce! 🤪
This was 40 years ago.
@ai6yr they probably are doing this big expedition so another History Channel-style documentary can be made. Is the aliens guy on contract already?
@douglasvb Oh, certainly! Got to fund those adventures one way or another!
@ai6yr I did sleep on the beach on graduation night. And alcohol was very much involved. Although my BAC that night might have kept the crabs away.
Oct 13, 2026, 1:05 AM
@ai6yr That looked like a man eating crab. Just sayin'
Oct 13, 2026, 6:12 AM@ai6yr It's Earhart, emerging from the wormhole!
I think it's at -4.668375, -174.528414
It all seems like a bit of a production when one person could go there with snorkeling gear.
@zl2tod Aha, I think you are correct. If so, I bet it's part of the shipwreck offshore that got washed in. 🤔 Some part of a tower/etc.
@zl2tod Piece of a shipwreck, almost certainly, IMHO. Anyway, it does require an in-person inspection on all of these (as I have DEFINITELY found).
@zl2tod Sentinel-2 definitely not good enough to acquire.. Maxar or equivalent
Aye. It doesn't scream aircraft to me.
@ai6yr They will sleep on board because there are no hotels. Not because of endangered crabs.
Dredging equipment? Its in 5ft of water...grab a mask and go look. They are really trying to get a story out of a simple operation. Looks like a cool place though.
@Microplastics101 On the plus side, you DEFINITELY need an in-person inspection on these to determine what you've seen.... Satellite -- helpful to identify areas to look. Drone -- rule out that it's not a natural object, something worth looking for. In person - required to determine exactly what is there, at least at this point.
@ai6yr I would volunteer to go look. I might need several months anchored there to make sure. I bet the fishing is good. I spent too little time in Suwarrow. Highly recommend. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suwarrow
@Microplastics101 @ai6yr and the expedition will require several cases of high quality rum for sterilizing things of course!
@virgilpierce @ai6yr Mandatory I believe.
@Microplastics101
It gets good reviews in Google maps.
@virgilpierce @ai6yr
Oct 14, 2026, 2:40 AMYou must have had an amazing life yourself! I would love to hear all the stories 😊
The funny thing is, when you posted the link here, I didn't recognize that it was the same island (different spelling, different phonemes). But I thought the image looked so much like how I had imagined that Island 😂. Or maybe I had looked at it on maps, I don't remember....
@NilaJones @ai6yr I very nearly took the job of caretaker. I knew the caretaker from when he was a cop on Rarotonga. I ran a cafe there for a while.
@Microplastics101 @NilaJones Oooh, I have chatted a bunch of times with someone on Raratonga... I need to find the card I have from him. Plus, the money with a hole in it which apparently is the same size as a US quarter or something so it got changed? LOL.
@ai6yr @NilaJones And their 3 dollar bill.
@Microplastics101 @ai6yr This all very much reminds me of this excellent true crime book that takes place on a tropical island. 😐
Was apparently a best seller in the 90s, but I only just read it this year. Super nice used hardbounds are very cheap.
Oct 13, 2026, 7:09 PM@Microplastics101 @markc568 @ai6yr
An Island to Oneself is available online, and super readable. I discovered it last winter and gulped it down
https://web.archive.org/web/20100309065018/http://www.janesoceania.com/suvarov%5Ftom%5Fneale/
(This is the first page, and it's not necessarily obvious, but when you get to the bottom you can click on something that says 'alone at last,' to take you to the next chapter)
That's amazing that you know the guy who dropped him off!
@NilaJones @markc568 @ai6yr Captain Don Silk and his wife were my neighbours in Rarotonga. He ran a shipping company through the south pacific supplying the islanders. I spent many a night swapping tales with him. lovely people. He copped a lot of grief for dropping him off. Side note. His wife is the daughter of the last person convicted of cannibalism in New Zealand. She was his nurse after an accident.
@Microplastics101 @NilaJones @markc568 Wow, small world!
@Microplastics101 @NilaJones @markc568 @ai6yr this is why I love the internet. Thank you for this story!
@NilaJones @Microplastics101 @markc568 Wow, started reading this... WAY OUT THERE! So alone too. Amazing.
@ai6yr I knew some guys years ago who were with an organization (TIGHAR or something) that went there, but my recollection was they couldn’t manage the logistics to bring dive equipment the first time so they couldn’t dive on whatever was in the water. They found some bones and a few other items, but nothing definitive. Crazy to read about this being done again 20 years later.
@ai6yr lol, the website is still out there, and is unchanged. Amazing time capsule.
Oct 13, 2026, 12:51 AM@mcnado Intresting! I guess, if you can get someone to fund your expedition, it's a fun thing to do, lol.
@ai6yr that's a busy wreckage site, huh.
Oct 13, 2026, 12:26 AM@ai6yr Maybe they’ll find her relaxing on the beach at 129 years old. 🤷🏻♂️
@ai6yr #chunderroad
Oh no
"Infested"? Really? That island is their home. Maybe it's been infested with humans now.
Oct 13, 2026, 1:08 AM@ai6yr Ran into a few in Fiji, they are quite fast and aggressive and big... did I mention they were big?
Once they reach adulthood they are APEX predators on whatever island they inhabit. Not much other than humans is a threat
Oct 13, 2026, 1:11 AM@ai6yr I think this is the most plausible outcome IMHO.
@ai6yr this thread has me wondering if this is the reason that cemeteries are do organized.
Our species seems obsessed with missing bodies.
🤣
@ai6yr oh boy
I am so skeptical
@IrrationalMethod @ai6yr I'm professionally acquainted with some of the participants and there are thus real limits on what I'll say about all this
but I'd put my money on the crabs
@ai6yr What if they were just teaching her Rust all these years...
