Aussie scientists go to Sandy Island to do research, discover it doesn't exist

Sandy Island lies out in the Coral Sea near to New Caledonia, is on countless maps and even features on Google Maps, too.

Yet when an expedition went out to find the famed landmass they found that it did not exist. What they found in its place was over a kilometre and a half deep salty water. And lots of it, too.

“We wanted to check it out because the navigation charts on board the ship showed a water depth of 1,400m in that area – very deep,” said Dr Maria Seton, part of the trip to check out Sandy Island, to the AFP news agency.

“There was no island. We’re really puzzled. It’s quite bizarre.”

“How did it find its way onto the maps? We just don’t know, but we plan to follow up and find out.”

Photo: Google.