Kochi June 18 :A screenshot from Google Earth has gone viral that shows a bean-shaped ‘island’-like structure off the coast of Kerala in the Arabian Sea. It has never been spotted before, hence the viral snippet has the experts baffled and looking into it.<\/p>\n
While the imagery shows it, its physical presence has not been seen. According to the News Minute, the formation is mostly about the size of West Kochi.<\/p>\n
The pictures were shared on Facebook by a man named KX Julappan, who is the president of an organization named ‘Chellanam Karshika Tourism Department’.<\/p>\n
As the Facebook post went viral, it caught the attention of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies. The officials are investigating the matter as the pictures have baffled the netizens.<\/p>\n
Not only them, but the officials have also gone absolutely bonkers figuring it out. “Looking at Google Maps, this looks like any other underwater island that we see across the globe. There have been similar observations, and there is a specific also for this. But, we do not know what it is made of- whether it is sand or clay and whether it is distributed regularly,” K. Riji John, the vice-chancellor of the university told the news organization.<\/p>\n
He further added that the fishermen on the state’s coastline have complained about dredging by the port in Kochi. However, more information is yet to be looked at in order to really ascertain this.<\/p>\n
John added, “Normally, due to underwater current, littoral draft, processes like accretion or erosion of the coast are observed.” Accretion basically means when the sediment comes back to the coast. He added that this is a common phenomenon that occurs in the Southern part of the state.<\/p>\n
The officials are still investigating the matter at the moment.<\/p>\n
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