Amelia Earhart: Researchers hunting for lost plane on crab-infested island

The hunt is on

Real talk: the mystery of Amelia Earhart’s 1937 disappearance has been living rent-free in the public imagination for nearly 90 years. Now, a squad from the Archaeological Legacy Institute and Purdue University has finally touched down at Nikumaroro Island in the Pacific to see if they can solve it once and for all.

They’re looking for something called the “Taraia Object,” which popped up in satellite images back in 2020. While some are lowkey hoping it’s the remains of her plane, others are skeptical, suggesting it might just be a fallen tree. This is the first time researchers have been granted official access to this specific spot in over 15 years, and they’ve got a tight five-day window to get the job done.

The crab situation is highkey wild

It’s giving survival horror movie, but the team is actually dealing with a major animal problem. The island is crawling with coconut crabs—the world’s largest land-dwelling crustaceans. These things are massive, with a leg span of up to one meter, and they’ve been known to hunt birds and small mammals.

There’s even a wild theory that these “robber crabs” could have scavenged Earhart’s remains if she survived a crash landing. To keep it 100, the research team is sleeping on their ship, the Marin Mainiku, every night instead of risking a campsite on the island. Plus, they’re battling a record-breaking El Niño weather pattern that could totally ruin their plans for shore access.

The process

Once they navigate a narrow reef gap—which was literally blasted open by the British in the 60s—the crew will spend their first day hacking through the jungle to set up base. After that, they’ll use dredging equipment to inspect the object, which is resting about 10 feet from the shore in shallow water. Expedition leader Rick Pettigrew said in a blog post, “It is incredibly rewarding to be this close to completing our inspection.”

Why it matters

Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, vanished while trying to refuel on their global flight. While the official stance remains that they ran out of fuel and crashed into the ocean, finding the plane would be a major W for history lovers and potentially close a case that has been haunting aviation enthusiasts for decades.