Starbuck Island

Starbuck Island was Originally Posted on April 8, 2010 by lavarock

I love Google Earth!

I am checking it currently to see when they finally put street view photos up. I will be in a few of those I think, as I believe they were taking photos while I was driving in front and behind the car.

I chose my house and zoomed south. I used to tell visitors that if they went to South Point on this iland, the next stop would be Antartica. I was wrong! It appears they would first hit Starbuck Island (Kiribati) and then, Antartica. I can tell you that Starbuck Island does not have any people and you might be there years before someone stops by. There are rats, birds and an ocassional palm tree. If there were to be a tsunami in the world, waves would likely cover the island, as its high point appears to be about 15 feet above sea level.

The island was named for the explorer Valentine Starbuck, but there is somewhat of a space link. Read on! By the way, isn’t it interesting the the first island south of my coffee farm is named Starbuck?

First sighted in 1823, it has been claimed by the British and US and is now a protected place by the U.N. There are a few photos of the island available online.

The New York Times reported on June 15, 1870, that the captain and crew of the French ship Euryale, bound for San Francisco from Tahiti, were stranded 35 days on the island before being rescued.

The coral island is 6 square miles and as I said, rises about 15 feet from sea level.

You really have to be adventureous to want to “stop on by”

Clicking on SKY, it looks as tough, it it were night and you looke dup, you would be under Canis Major, Orion, Gemini and Monoceros. The last is Greek for unicorn and with a small telescope you could look up and see 3 faint stars forming a fixed triangle. It was first sighted (41 years before the island was discovered) by William Herschel, a British astronomer and composer. He also discovered Uranus.

Nothing earth-shattering, but certainly neat way to travel the earth and sky while never leaving the house.