Amelia Earhart Researchers Arrive at Carnivorous Island

Nearly 90 years after Amelia Earhart vanished over the Pacific Ocean, a team of researchers has reached a remote, uninhabited island where they believe the legendary aviator’s missing airplane could be buried beneath a shallow lagoon.

The expedition arrived at Nikumaroro, a tiny island surrounded by miles of open ocean, on Monday, October 12, bringing new hope that one of aviation history’s greatest mysteries could finally be solved.

But the researchers face an extraordinary challenge.

Beyond the island’s dense vegetation, dangerous reefs and extreme isolation, the search team must contend with enormous coconut crabs, powerful scavengers that can grow up to three feet across and weigh nearly 10 pounds.

The island has long fueled speculation about Earhart’s disappearance, including the possibility that she and navigator Fred Noonan survived an emergency landing only to die while stranded far from civilization.

Now, newly examined satellite images have given researchers a specific location to investigate.

The 17-member expedition, organized by the Archaeological Legacy Institute in partnership with Purdue University and the Purdue Research Foundation, is searching for a mysterious shape known as the “Taraia Object.”

The object was identified in satellite imagery from 2020 and appears to resemble part of an aircraft submerged in Nikumaroro’s lagoon.

Researchers believe it may have become more visible after Tropical Cyclone Pam disturbed sediment around the island in 2015.

Rick Pettigrew, executive director of the Archaeological Legacy Institute, said the suspected wreckage could have remained hidden beneath sediment for decades.

He explained to ABC News that the location may once have been deeper underwater before shifting sand and other material gradually buried the object.

After a demanding voyage of approximately 830 nautical miles aboard the vessel Marin Mainiku, the research team reached the island Monday evening.

By Tuesday, October 13, expedition members had gone ashore and begun establishing equipment and operations for the search.

The researchers have only a limited window to examine the site before departing, making every day on the isolated island critical.

Some team members will explore the island on foot, while marine specialists investigate the lagoon using boats and underwater equipment.

Their main objective is to determine whether the mysterious shape contains recognizable parts of Earhart’s twin-engine Lockheed Electra 10-E, the airplane she was flying when she disappeared in 1937.

If researchers uncover aircraft material, they hope to examine construction details, including aluminum panels and rivet patterns, that could help identify its origin.

However, the object has not been confirmed as an airplane, and researchers have not yet announced the discovery of wreckage.

At least one prominent aviation investigator has expressed skepticism.

Ric Gillespie, executive director of The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery, has spent decades investigating the theory that Earhart landed on Nikumaroro.

Despite supporting that possibility, Gillespie believes the object visible in the satellite images may simply be a fallen tree.

The disagreement illustrates the enormous difficulty of solving a mystery that has survived generations of searches.

Earhart disappeared July 2, 1937, while attempting to become the first woman to fly around the world along a route near the equator.

She and Noonan had departed Lae, New Guinea, bound for tiny Howland Island, where they planned to refuel before continuing their journey.

During the flight, Earhart reported difficulties locating the island as her aircraft ran low on fuel.

Radio transmissions eventually stopped, and neither the aviator nor her navigator was ever seen again.

An extensive search by the U.S. Navy and Coast Guard failed to locate the airplane.

The official explanation has long been that Earhart likely ran out of fuel and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

But another theory suggests the pair missed Howland Island and continued flying until they reached Nikumaroro, roughly 400 miles away.

Supporters of that theory believe the aviators may have landed on the island’s reef and survived temporarily before dying as castaways.

Previous expeditions have uncovered intriguing clues, including old human bone records, fragments of footwear, cosmetic containers and other objects that some researchers believe could be connected to Earhart.

However, none has conclusively established that she or Noonan reached the island.

The fate of their remains also remains unknown.

Nikumaroro’s coconut crabs have become an unsettling part of the mystery because the powerful crustaceans scavenge animal remains.

Some investigators have suggested their activity could help explain why human remains might be difficult to locate after so many decades.

But there is no confirmed evidence that the crabs encountered Earhart or Noonan, much less that they caused either aviator’s death.

The creatures are an environmental challenge for researchers, not proof of what happened in 1937.

The new expedition also has a special connection to Purdue University.

Earhart worked with the Indiana university as a career counselor and aviation adviser during the 1930s. Financial support arranged through Purdue helped her acquire the Lockheed Electra used on her final flight.

That history has made the latest investigation especially meaningful to the institution.

Organizers estimate the expedition will cost approximately $900,000, with support from university partners, donors and outside organizations.

If aircraft wreckage is discovered, further examination and any possible recovery would require cooperation with the government of Kiribati, which oversees Nikumaroro.

For now, the team is concentrating on determining what lies beneath the lagoon.

The stakes are extraordinary.

If the Taraia Object proves to be Earhart’s missing aircraft, the discovery could dramatically change the understanding of her final flight and potentially support the theory that she and Noonan survived their initial disappearance.

If it turns out to be a natural object or unrelated debris, the mystery will remain.

After 89 years, countless theories and repeated unsuccessful searches, researchers are once again standing on the remote island that some believe holds the answer to Amelia Earhart’s fate.

And this time, they have a specific underwater target that could finally reveal what happened to the world’s most famous missing aviator.