Isla Tiburon

July 20, 2005 8:11 PM

Strange CuriosityThe island seems to be Mexico's largest. Shows up on Google satellite but not on the map. Google Earth yields a few placenames, leading to finding the true name of the island: "Isla Tiburon" presently an ecological reserve with the nickname "Shark Island". Aside from surrounding shark tours and an occasional visit by kayak, it seems this place is lonely and untouched.
posted by thisisdrew (19 comments total)

maybe that's where we can all move to when the US implodes.
posted by brandz at 8:20 PM on July 20, 2005

"Shark Island" isn't just a nickname, it's also the literal Spanish-to-English translation of "Isla Tiburon."

/shnark

The island does appear [unlabeled] on this map, so it must just be an omission in Google's data.
posted by ijoshua at 8:22 PM on July 20, 2005

Congrats on your lengthy attempt at inventing something to post about.
posted by angry modem at 8:23 PM on July 20, 2005

Is there oil?
posted by kika at 8:24 PM on July 20, 2005

Someone called?

ijoshua beat me to the "Isla Tiburon" == "Shark Island" bit.
posted by clevershark at 8:26 PM on July 20, 2005

Sounds like the perfect place for my secret underground lair.
posted by spazzm at 8:32 PM on July 20, 2005

Boy, "Isla Tiburon" to "Isla Gimoteo" in two comments.
Makes me want to visit.
posted by Floydd at 8:32 PM on July 20, 2005

Yes but aren't all of Mexico's islands missing from the map view?
posted by fleacircus at 8:38 PM on July 20, 2005

Isla Guardia and all the small islands around Bahia de Los Angeles, west, across Mar de Cortez are clearly visible. Resolution isn't sharp enough to see Campo Geko or Papa Diaz's hotel at LA bay. Following the road from Bahia to Punta Prieta the wrecking yard across from the Pemex station is clearly visable. Ah... Baja...
posted by X4ster at 9:01 PM on July 20, 2005

Been there in the 70s, pretty desolate...lots of sharks, dolphins and seagulls
posted by atomicmedia at 9:03 PM on July 20, 2005

reading the kayak article yielded this;

...wandered down to the waters edge to wash a pot and had an encounter with one of the seas' more sinister creatures. I took a step in about 6" of water and WHAMMM! I felt like my foot had cramped severely. I reached down to apply pressure and got slashed across the fingers. I realized then that this no cramp but a stingray I was standing on. I removed my foot and limped back to the cooking fire...

Regenerative ability of a starfish?
posted by X4ster at 9:08 PM on July 20, 2005

Not sure why this was worthy of a thread ...

but if you go due west, cross Baja, and out into the Pacific, you find Guadalupe Island, which is curious in its own way. 150 years ago, the island was used by Russian whalers as a relief port, and they brought goats -- which proceeded to breed like crazy, denuding the island's uniique biome. Once upon a time, the entire island was a tropical rainforest; today it is desolate. Only this year has the Mexican government finally removed the goats, letting young trees grow for the first time in perhaps a century.

Anyway, back to Shark I.: the UN recently designated most of the islands in the Gulf of California as a World Heritage Site.
posted by dhartung at 11:44 PM on July 20, 2005

it seems this place is lonely and untouched.

Thanks to the power of the MetaFilter Effect (tm), the place will be completely overrun with tourists looking for the Shangri-La of ecotourism: the deserted island. It's even got the advantage of not being located in the middle of the Pacific (and thus, accessible).

Thanks a lot, thisisdrew.
:)
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 2:10 AM on July 21, 2005

ecological reserve? does that it mean it's not on sale and no one can pour concrete all over it to build 'luxury' tourist resorts? what a shame...
posted by funambulist at 4:21 AM on July 21, 2005

one of the seas' more sinister creatures

Yeah, those stingrays sure are sinister. Stinging you when you stand on them and all.
posted by dreamsign at 6:18 AM on July 21, 2005

Cool the second Google Maps anomaly in a week on MeFi . I smell the concept of a Google Maps Mysteries site.
In this case this could be the model for the "ecological reserve" there.
I'd stay away.
posted by celerystick at 7:00 AM on July 21, 2005

It's not on the map because Google Maps uses an incomplete dataset for anything outside of America... I say that as someone who lives not too far away from that island in Mexico by the way.

Here's some photos I took from a recent trip to a similar island farther south.
posted by glider at 10:21 AM on July 21, 2005

looks like a wild trip. Tell me, whats it like living there?
posted by thisisdrew at 12:07 PM on July 21, 2005

Perhaps this is La Boca del Cielo?
posted by zinegurl at 7:38 PM on July 21, 2005