Could it be home to the elusive, mythical creature Cthulhu? Or is it just a remote island, completely devoid of life?
Not many have heard of Point Nemo and no – it’s not in reference to the Disney movie that shares the same name. Located roughly 1,670 miles from any reachable land area, this isolated island is only close to two additional remote locations, the Pitcairn Islands, the Easter Islands, and an Antarctic island located more than 1,000 miles away. In Latin, ‘Nemo’ means ‘no one’ which is a more than adequate way to describe this island – it has never been and will never be home to any inhabitants.
Furthermore, it’s said that astronauts have often been closer to this island than any one human. Since the island sits over 1,000 miles away from any known landmass where humans have been, astronauts orbit the earth within at least 258 miles – meaning that even from space, they’re still the closest humans to ever reach this point on the earth. So, with that being said, why is Point Nemo so important, and what is it used for? Even more so, if humans don’t dwell there, then what actually does?
The Discovery Of Point Nemo
The mystery of Point Nemo grows increasingly intriguing, as the man who discovered it had never even stepped foot on the island himself. A survey engineer by the name of Hrvoje Lukatela made the discovery of the land point in 1992 and was able to efficiently calculate both its distance and pinpoint its coordinates by triangulating other known landmasses. At that point in time, it was also surmised that no human being had ever crossed over the coordinates used due to the remote area of the island – there would have been no reason to – therefore cementing the idea that this island and its surroundings truly are the most remote places on earth.
To add even more depth to this mystery, it’s not like that many things live on or around Point Nemo, either. What is known about this South Pacific location is that it’s also home to extremely strong South Pacific currents called the South Pacific Gyre. This current continuously pushes things through, including any potential nutrients and food sources that would be needed to actually sustain life on the island or in the water surrounding it. There are volcanic vents in the seafloor which does lend some activity, but it’s likely limited to bacteria and crabs which can withstand both the current and the underwater volcanic activity.
“Space Graveyard”
In fact, the entire region around Point Nemo is well known to space agencies, officially calling it the “South Pacific Uninhabited Zone.”
In particular, the space agencies of Russia, Europe and Japan have used it as a “space graveyard”.
More than a hundred dismantled space objects occupy this dump where, among others, fragments of satellites and the Mir space station are found.
“As in the case of shipwrecks, they create habitats colonized by anything and everything that lives in those depths,” says archaeologist Alice Gorman of Flindres University in Adelaide, Australia.
“However, except in cases of a fuel spill, they should not pose a threat to aquatic life.”
Despite The Lack Of Life, It’s Awfully Loud On This Island
Point Nemo has been a point of interest for many and has even gained the attention of some scientists who believe there might be something unique happening around this landmass. In 1997, only five years after the island was actually mapped, an unusual sound was recorded near the pole. It was the loudest ever recorded underwater sound, beating out noises from both animals and underwater geological shifts. The sound was so tremendous, in fact, that it was heard in separate places that were more than 3,000 miles apart.
Monsters?
Rumors circulated for a long time about the type of living beings that could inhabit Point Nemo.
Despite writing his work 66 years before it was discovered, author H. P. Lovecraft chose an oddly nearby site to set R’lyeh, the home of Cthulhu, his legendary tentacled-faced creature.
Little variety
According to oceanographer Steven D’Hondt, from the University of Rhode Island in Narragansett, Point Nemo really doesn’t have the right conditions for there to be a lot of diversity of species.
That’s because it’s inside the South Pacific Gyre, a huge rotating current bounded on the east and west by South America and Australia, on the north by the equator, and on the south by the strong Antarctic Circumpolar Current.
The waters within the gyre are stable with a surface temperature of 5.8°C at Point Nemo, according to data from NASA satellites.
The current blocks the entry of cooler, nutrient-rich waters. Also, because the region is so isolated from land masses, the wind doesn’t carry much organic matter either.
As a consequence, there is little food and, since there is no material to fall as “sea snow”, the bottom is also lifeless. D’Hondt describes it as “the least biologically active region of the ocean in the world”.
Still, there are a few rare places where unique creatures can survive.
Point Nemo is near the southern tip of the Eastern Pacific Ridge, an underwater line of volcanic activity that extends into the Gulf of California and marks the boundary of the Pacific and Nazca tectonic plates.
Magma bubbles up in the gap between the plates creating hydrothermal vents that expel hot water and minerals.
It’s an extreme environment, but one that thrives on bacteria that get their energy from the chemicals released by the eruptions.
In turn, the bacteria support larger creatures including the “yeti crab,” first observed in 2005.
The Truth Behind Point Nemo?
While it’s highly unlikely that Cthulhu is hiding in the South Pacific, scientists eventually did find a way to explain the unusual ‘bloop’ that occurred under the ocean’s surface. It was determined to be the sound of a piece of ice breaking off Antarctica, thus creating the aquatic noise that was recorded throughout the entire area.
In any case, this is the information that reaches us. The truth is only found in the most inaccessible point of the planet.
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