Sandy Island, New Caledonia

Sandy Island (sometimes labelled in French: Île de Sable) is a non-existent island that was charted for over a century as being located near the French territory of New Caledonia between the Chesterfield Islands and Nereus Reef in the eastern Coral Sea. The island was included on many maps and nautical charts from as early as the late 19th century, and gained wide media and public attention in November 2012 when the R/V Southern Surveyor, an Australian surveyor ship, passed through the area and "undiscovered" it. The island was quickly removed from many maps and data sets, including those of the National Geographic Society and Google Maps.
History
In 1774, Captain James Cook charted a "Sandy Island" 420 kilometers due east at approximately 19º S latitude and at just less than 164 degrees of longitude (rather than just less than 160 degrees of longitude for the phantom "Sandy Island" on charts and maps after 1876). The associated map was published...