Dougherty Island
Dougherty is the name of a phantom island that was believed to be located in the extreme south of the Pacific Ocean, roughly halfway between Cape Horn and New Zealand. It is named for Captain Dougherty of the James Stewart, an English whaler, who in 1841 reported discovering it at Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.. He described it as 5–6 miles long with a high bluff to the northeast, and covered in snow. Dougherty's discovery was confirmed by Captain Keates of the Louise in 1860, giving its coordinates as Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found., and by Captain Stannard of the Cingalese in 1886, giving the location as Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..[1]
However, thorough exploration of the area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries established that the island does not exist.[2] Captain Davis of the Nimrod suggested that the most likely explanation was that Dougherty, Keates, and Stannard were all deceived by fog banks or icebergs (none, after all, claimed to have actually landed on the island): "I am inclined to think Dougherty Island has melted."[3]
See also
- Sandy Island, New Caledonia, a phantom island which remained on many maps until the early 21st century
References
- Hamilton-Paterson, James. The Great deep: the sea and its thresholds. New York: Holt, 1993. ISBN 0-8050-2776-9
- Ramsay, Raymond H. No Longer on the Map: discovering places that never were. New York: Viking Press, 1972. ISBN 0-670-51433-0
<templatestyles src="Asbox/styles.css"></templatestyles>
 |
This article about a specific oceanic location or ocean current is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
