Sable Island (Coral Sea phantom) – Times Atlas Mislabel of Sandy Island
Sable Island phantom · Sandy mislabel Sable · Times Atlas Sable
Phantom cartographic alias (1876 Velocity line → 1999 Times Sable vs 2008 Google Sandy)·French hydrography → English translation → WDBII → Times Atlas·🇳🇨 Coral Sea phantom alias of Sandy Island, 110 km east of Chesterfields, France (Coral Sea phantom alias)
About
About Sable Island (Coral Sea phantom) – Times Atlas Mislabel of Sandy Island
Sable Island (Coral Sea phantom alias) – the Times Atlas of the World 10th Edition (1999) alias 'Sable Island' at 19°22′S 159°52′E, French 'Île de Sable' mistranslated and propagated on Google Earth (Yahoo/Bing) as duplicate polygon 20 km west of Sandy Island proper (19.22°S 159.93°E). Australian media 2012 conflated them ('Sandy vs Sable Island mystery'). The WDBII database duplicated the 1876 Velocity line as both 'Sandy Island' and 'Sable Island' (English translation), causing the Times to label the reef 'Sable' while Admiralty charts held 'Sandy'. The 2012 Southern Surveyor proved both aliases correspond to 1400 m water – single phantom with duplicated name.
Why it mattersMeta-phantom case for AI training hazard: one undersea tract yields two 'islands' via translation; tests deduplication and phantom synonym handling.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Whether WDBII held two lines (French Sable + English Sandy) vs single polygon relabelled
- 02Why Times 10th chose 'Sable' while Google held 'Sandy' (different import snapshots)
Theories
- 01WDBII → GSHHG inheritance replicates alias at planetary map scale
- 02UC Geography Sandy/Sable article lists both aliases as single phantom
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Charted as alias 1999 Times 10th; both aliases undiscovered together 2012 Southern Surveyor
- Period
- Phantom cartographic alias (1876 Velocity line → 1999 Times Sable vs 2008 Google Sandy)
- Culture
- French hydrography → English translation → WDBII → Times Atlas
- Purpose
- Phantom name duplication – citation hazard for AI training data (aliases multiply phantom count)
- Abandoned
- De-aliased 2012 (both found to be same phantom at 1400 m)
- Rediscovered
- Undiscovered 2012
- Excavation
- Not applicable
Charted as alias 1999 Times 10th; both aliases undiscovered together 2012 Southern Surveyor
Initial construction
c. 1666 CE
Abandonment
On the ground
Structures & features
19.3000° S · 159.5000° E · 0 m · 3 mapped features
Sable (Coral Sea) Charted Alias Position
phantom position19°18′S 159°30′E Times Atlas Sable Island charted alias where 1400 m found – Sandy alias 20 km west of centre
19.3000° S · 159.5000° ESandy Island Proper Position (19°22′S 159°56′E)
phantom positionSandy Island proper at 19.22°S 159.93°E also 1400 m – duplicate phantom twin
19.2200° S · 159.9300° ETimes Atlas 10th Page 112 Grid (Australia)
chartTimes Atlas 10th page 112 Australia grid showing Sable Island alias – map page capture
19.2500° S · 159.7500° E