Did the CIA erase one of Mexico's Islands?

If you look at maps of the Americas ranging from the 16th to the 20th centuries many of them have an island within the Gulf of Mexico called Bermeja…but on modern maps, it’s not there.

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[GeographyGeek]

This is a re-upload. It was originally posted back in November but an image needed to be removed over a copyright dispute.

[trolleyfan]

The simplest answer is that it is one of those other islands off of northern Yucatán that's been displaced/copied into the wrong place. Since that sort of thing happened *all* the time, with islands being duplicated all over the oceans, this is by far the best explanation.

[ernestsmith]

If it ever existed, it was either a bitumen seep or a coral reef. Some monster hurricanes have passed right over that area in the last 400 years and could have very easily removed all trace.

[LookAlikeFilm]

Island being destroyed by an earthquake - “That can’t happen without someone noticing”
Island being destroyed by a hydrogen bomb - “Definitely plausible”

[busslayer]

People have been sailing around the Gulf of Mexico for centuries. If there was an island, people would know about it.
If it ever existed, maybe it was a mud volcano which tend to be short lived islands.

[Chris-lhwj]

The Gulf is known for being pretty deep and has no volcanic activity where remote islands can sometimes occur. Pretty sure most of the islands in the gulf are fairly close to land and are more just small strips of sand. Also it seems strange that it would even be open to debate in the age of satellites.

[GanzotheSecond]

As much as I dislike the CIA, I don’t think you can make an island disappear without a trace. But destroying an entire island for oil is probably the most American/CIA thing you can do lol

[Bkearing]

Was most likely a massive patch of sargasso entrapped in the GoM's loop current. The color description fits and it's easy to imagine a sailor seeing it from a distance and describing it as an island.

[GardenerEarthGuy]

It could have been seaweed in a gyre for so long, bird guano covered it, plants grew, making it look like land.

[Adiscretefirm]

Haven't cartographers always included innocuous but intentional errors to catch plagiarists? Don't publishers still do that?

[arposkraft]

as "a disoriented sailor" I can with some certainty say that the story that cartograhers would insert deliberate mistakes to prevent copying us likely, its a practise still done today, the story thats simply a different name for a rock a bit more over under another name is also likely as we arnt exactly talking gps days and even the size and coast of the gulf wasnt chartered perfectly, if it were just below sea level then the planes and research vessels would have certainly found that regardless if the cause is erosion bombs or changes in sea level

[danielhurst]

Not only would an island be apparent, but even if the island submerged, or was blown up, this would be apparent as well. There is no method, including hydrogen bomb, that removes an island and any traces from the ocean floor.
Old maps often have errors, that other repeat in their maps, and those errors can be deliberate or simply a mistake.
You'll find maps with rivers across Canada, and giant lakes in the western United States, because map makers took oral history and put it on maps.

[missynorris]

If you study a bathymetry map of the gulf, there is a spot on the map that may represent the place were the so-called island, once existed. It lies at the edge of an underwater escarpment/shelf. It quite possible simply collapsed from the edge of the escarpment/shelf by itself, thorough weathering, storm surge or other natural phenomenon.

[captglenn]

Bermeja Island is actually Cayo Nuevo (which is not marked on any of the old maps). It was incorrectly identified by the early explorers.
And actually, the islands marked as Negrillos on that old map also do not exist.

[drewsify]

I think it’s either an island we already know if that was misplaced in the map, or simply never existed. It’s quite common to see large inaccuracies on old maps.

[skylerrutherford]

I do not put shit past the US government but that does seem like a bit much

[TribleNerd]

I love when people claim "The government did it" like I work for the government. We can't get pens or pencils without 4-6 months of paper work and begging.

[gardinerb]

Being in us navy Station in Texas we did alot of training and sailing though the gulf of Mexico and alot in the area they saying that the island at and I will tell you there nothing but blue water out in that area.

[brotherryan]

Maybe the cartographers in the 16th century could have made a mistake. The same maps that show the island also show inaccurate depictions of the Yucatán peninsula. As maps evolve, they generally become more accurate.

[samanthasebastian]

I’m a bit late but still watched it 💪🏻 amazing video keep up the great work!