When you purchase through links on our site , we may earn an affiliate commission . Here ’s how it lick .

Where is it?Vostok Island , Kiribati [ -10.06285840 , -152.311076 ]

What ’s in the photo?A coral island covered in Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree that make it look like a " smuggled hole "

An aerial photo of a roughly triangular island in the sea, which looks almost completely black

A 2021 Google Maps image of Vostok Island was shared widely online alongside ill-conceived rumors about what it could be.

Where did the photo originate?Google Maps

When was it taken?October 2021

This striking satellite simulacrum , taken from Google Maps in 2021 , shows a bizarre , fountain - ignominious , triangular complex body part in the middle of the Pacific Ocean .

A photo of Vostok Island taken from sea-level

From sea level, Vostok Island looks like a typical coral atoll covered with densePisoniatrees.

At the meter , the mysterious physical object , which was wide referred to as a " black yap , " actuate wild rumors online . However , it was quickly revealed to be an uninhabited island covered with dense tree .

However , it was quickly sustain that the dark patch was in reality Vostok Island , one of the 33 land mass that make up the Republic of Kiribati in the South Pacific , theBBC describe at the fourth dimension . The island , which is a coral atoll , has an domain of just 0.1 satisfying mile ( 0.25 square km ) and is located around 4,000 miles ( 6,000 km ) E of Australia .

The virtually black color in the Google Maps persona is the result of the island ’s thickly populatedPisoniatrees , which almost all satiate the island ’s interior . These tree are dark green , but in such a high concentration , they see much darker from downcast Earth scope , according to the BBC .

A satellite image showing a giant plume of discolored water beneath the surface

Related : See all the best images of Earth from place

Pisoniatrees are known to grow so nearly to one another that they often preclude any other tree or works species from take root in between them because they block out so much light-colored , accord to the donnish intelligence siteJSTOR Daily .

The dense leaf also entice a diverseness of seabirds , including boobies , noddies and frigatebirds , according to a1971 survey . These birds get covered in pasty ejaculate pods and thus facilitate disperse them to other islands .

A satellite image of a thin wispy ring of clouds above the ocean

— Antarctica ’s ' Deception Island ' is one of the only topographic point on Earth where you could sail into an active volcano

— Gravity waves spark off brace of perfect swarm ripples above uninhabited islands

— Svalbard ’s radioactive ' Bear Island ' surrounded by uncommon cloud swirls and a elephantine algal blush

A satellite photo of an island with a massive caldera and crater lake with smoke coming from part of the volcano

In other parts of the world , some wench have been cognise to get so stuck with thePisoniapods that they become entrapped and die , JSTOR Daily reported . As a consequence , there are sometimes great deal of bones beneath the trees .

Before being discovered by Russian IE in 1820 , Vostok Island had establish no sign of ever being populate by humans , according to a 1966 clause inPacific Islands Monthly , and it has not had any lasting house physician since . This is probable because there is no reliable generator of sassy water on the island .

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again , you will then be prompt to move into your display name .

Large swirls of green seen on the ocean�s surface from space

Stunning aerial view of the Muri beach and lagoon, with its three island, in Rarotonga in the Cook island archipelago in the Pacific

An astronaut photo of a lake in the desert that is half red and half green surrounded by lots of dark circular dots

Jellyfish Lake seen from the viewpoint of a camera that is half in the water and half outside. We see dozens of yellow jellyfish in the water.

The Gulf of Corryvreckan between the Scottish isles of Jura and Scarba.

An illustration of a melting Earth with its ocean currents outlined

a photo of the ocean with a green tint

an aerial view of a river

an illustration of a base on the moon

An aerial photo of mountains rising out of Antarctica snowy and icy landscape, as seen from NASA�s Operation IceBridge research aircraft.

A tree is silhouetted against the full completed Annular Solar Eclipse on October 14, 2023 in Capitol Reef National Park, Utah.

Screen-capture of a home security camera facing a front porch during an earthquake.

Circular alignment of stones in the center of an image full of stones

Three-dimensional rendering of an HIV virus