A research team from the Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University arrived Monday at Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific Ocean to inspect what may be wreckage from aviator Amelia Earhart's plane. Earhart disappeared in 1937 while attempting to fly around the world with navigator Fred Noonan.
The five-day search focuses on the Taraia Object, first spotted in satellite imagery in 2020 sitting on the edge of a lagoon. Some researchers believe it could be Earhart's Electra aircraft, though skeptics suggest it may be a collapsed tree or something other than a plane.
This marks the first authorized trip to Nikumaroro in seven years and the first visit to the Taraia Peninsula in more than 15 years, according to Purdue. The ship Marin Mainiku completed an 830-nautical-mile voyage through the South Pacific to reach the western side of the island, part of the Pacific nation of Kiribati.
Expedition leader Rick Pettigrew said in a blog post: "It is incredibly rewarding to be this close to completing our inspection of the Taraia Object and potentially solving, at long last, the outstanding mystery of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan more than 89 years ago."
Work will proceed in stages. Tuesday's plan involves navigating through a narrow gap in the atoll's reef that was blasted open by the British in 1963. Wednesday will focus on the Taraia Peninsula, where researchers will search for evidence including magnetic metals. Crews will then use dredging equipment to move sediment for visual inspection of the object, located approximately 10 feet from shore in as little as five feet of water depending on tides.
The expedition faces significant obstacles. Coconut crabs, the world's largest land-dwelling crustaceans with leg spans up to one metre and capable of lifting up to 28 kilograms, emerge at night to hunt. The crew will sleep aboard the ship for safety. El Niño, currently the strongest ever recorded, could hamper daily access to shore. A weather pattern moving from east to west poses additional concerns for safe transit through the channels.
Earhart and Noonan departed Lae, Papua New Guinea on July 2, 1937, en route to Howland Island to refuel. The plane vanished without trace. The official explanation attributes the disappearance to communication problems and fuel exhaustion as they searched for the island. Several alternative theories suggest Earhart survived a crash on Nikumaroro before being overcome by giant crabs.