27th October 2006

Pitcairn Islands ClustrMap Mystery

posted in blogs, geography, globalvoices |

We have a mystery on our hands, and I’m hoping you can help me solve it. As you probably know if you’ve been reading my blog for long, I am wholly captivated by ClustrMaps and the global nature of web 2.0 conversations which Internet access enables and tools like ClustrMaps reveal. From time to time I look at the growing number of red dots on my blog ClustrMap, and wonder who all these people are, what they are doing, what sorts of lives they live each day, and how amazing it is that the Internet has brought us together. This red dot in the South Pacific is a mystery to me, however. Where is this?

A ClustrMap Mystery

Google Earth wasn’t much help for me– maybe that is because I’m a Google Earth newbie– but I do have another program (3D Weather Globe) that revealed a possible identity for the island and city represented by this red dot.

Adamstown from 3D WeatherGlobe

Adamstown, capital of the Pitcairn Islands. According to the WikiPedia article for the Pitcairn Islands:

The Pitcairn Islands (Pitkern : Pitkern Ailen), officially named the Pitcairn, Henderson, Ducie, and Oeno Islands, are a group of four islands in the southern Pacific Ocean. The islands are a British overseas territory (formerly British colony), the last remaining in the Pacific. Only Pitcairn Island — the second largest — is inhabited.

The islands are best known for being the home of the descendants of the Bounty mutineers and the Tahitians who accompanied them, an event retold in numerous books and films. This story is still apparent in the surnames of many of the islanders. With only about fifty inhabitants (from nine families), Pitcairn is also notable for being the least populated jurisdiction in the world (although it is not a sovereign nation). The United Nations Committee on Decolonisation includes the Pitcairn Islands on the United Nations list of Non-Self-Governing Territories.

Is this mystery dot indeed the result of an Internet surfer (here-to-fore anonymous to me) who lives in Adamstown in the Pitcairn Islands– or am a mistaken in my geographic hypothesizing? :-)

Is this mysterious south Pacific edublog reader willing to step forward and identify his/herself?

On this day..

This entry was posted on Friday, October 27th, 2006 at 11:40 pm and is filed under blogs, geography, globalvoices. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

There are currently 2 responses to “Pitcairn Islands ClustrMap Mystery”

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  1. 1 On October 28th, 2006, Graham Wegner said:

    Try the official government website and maybe subscribe to the island’s monthly newsletter. I couldn’t find a school website on your behalf but Australia’s near neighbour, Norfolk Island also has many descendants from the same mutiny. Maybe an email to that school could help regarding tracking down the possible visitor?! Another website is Pitcairn Island Web Site as well as Pitcairn Miscellany Web Site. Certainly a fascinating part of the world. I think my most interesing dots on my Clustr map would be the two in Russia - who knows what they make of my ramblings.

  2. 2 On October 28th, 2006, Wesley Fryer said:

    Wow, thanks Graham! I’ll check out those links and continue to watch this space for more comments, maybe the reader will comment! :-)