Maria Theresa Reef

The Maria - Theresa Reef or Maria- Theresia- island to the south of the Tuamotu Archipelago in the Pacific Ocean lie. Their existence is like that of the Ernest- Legouvé riffs unclear, perhaps it is phantom islands. Accordingly, it is noted in some atlases, not in others. Its location away from the usual ship routes is a major reason for the insufficient review of its existence.

On 16 November 1843 the American whaler Maria Theresa was under Captain Asaph P. Taber at 36 ° 50 ' S, 136 ° 39' W 36.833333333333 - 136.65. The logbook reports of contradictory breakers ( breaker / breakers ) or Breaches ( the blowing of whales ). The oldest message, Taber had discovered a reef or an island, can be found on 2 March 1844 in the newspaper The Friend, Honolulu. The reproduced here coordinates of 37 ° 0 ' S, 151 ° 13' W -37- 151.21666666667 (south of the Austral Islands ) served until 1983 as the basis of entries in charts and atlases. A review of the log of the " Maria Theresa" by the British Hydrographic Institute conducted at least on nautical charts to correct the coordinates by more than 1000 km to the east, while many atlases are still using the old coordinates. A few experiments in the 20th century to recover the island, remained for both traditional positions without success.

Is also the basis of satellite images to the assumption that the reef does not exist, at least in the present. However, since neither a now sunken below sea coral reef nor the existence of the Maria- Theresia- riffs can ever be definitively ruled that charts the reef for safety record continues.

Literally it immortalized Jules Verne in his two novels, The Children of Captain Grant and The Mysterious Island. In both, he describes it as a habitable island, Captain Grant and two of his sailors for several years after a shipwreck serves as a refuge. On Tabor of criminals Ayrton is exposed at the end of the first story, which is saved in the second story of the crash-landed on the island of Lincoln refugees.

On the French charts, the reef is reproduced as Tabor, apparently a wrong transfer of the discoverers name Taber.