Nemo Point

This month, we will tell you about Point Nemo, located approximately 2,688 km (1,670.25 miles) from the nearest land in the South Pacific Ocean, far from commercial shipping routes and unvisited by anyone, at coordinates 48°52.6’S 123°23.6’W.

Point Nemo was calculated in 1992 by Croatian-Canadian cartographer Hrvoje Lukatela using parameters from the U.S. Defense Mapping Agency’s (National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency) “World Digital Map.” Lukatela validated his calculations through realistic modeling and simulations.

It was named after Captain Nemo, the protagonist of Jules Verne’s novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, because it is defined as the most remote point on Earth where no one has ever been. Nemo means “no one” in Latin.

This point is where the equator, the international date line, and the 90th meridian west intersect.

North of Nemo Point is Ducie Island, northeast is Motu Nui from the Easter Islands, and south is Maher Island near Antarctica.

The Nemo Point is defined by space agencies as the “South Pacific Uninhabited Region” and, since it is rarely visited by humans or ships, Russian, European, and Japanese space agencies have been using it as a disposal site for space vehicle debris for a long time. For example, some parts of the 143-ton Mir space station, which was dismantled and dropped here, sank to the bottom of the ocean, while others washed ashore on the coast of Fiji.

Some ocean scientists assume that the limited presence of life at Nemo Point is due to the low temperatures in the middle of the powerful currents known as the South Pacific Gyre. However, lava seepage from cracks formed by the separation of the Pacific and Nazca tectonic plates, along with hot water vents and mineral deposits, provide conditions conducive to life. Today, the region supports a habitat for bacteria and larger organisms, and in 2005, a species of hairy “yeti crab” was discovered there.

Satellites and various space vehicles are much closer to land than the remote Nemo Point, which is 200 km away. When you are in the seas near this point, you cannot see any ships, but a satellite or space vehicle part could fall on your head. It is advisable to be cautious…

Compilation

With contributions from Nalan Yüksel…