I think many of you had heard about a “ghost” island (known as Pulau Batu Hairan in Malay language) emerged on 15 Apr 1988. This island just rise up from the sea floor, remain above the sea for a short period, then it would sink and disappeared. It is next to the east side of Banggi Island, roughly at latitude 7 degrees and 16 minutes north, and longitude 117 degrees 20 minutes east, about 70 km northeast of Kudat town. The pictures below were taken in May of 1988 (I don’t know the author and source). As you can see, the island is full of corals, very beautiful. Don’t know whether it will come up again. Really want to go there to have a look.
The island was initially small in size, but after a few days gradually grew to approximately the size of a football field. After two weeks, the island was estimated to be about 60-70 metres in diameter. The island is roughly rounded in shape and is about 2-3 metres in height (taking into account the fall and rise of the tide).
According to Dr. Felix Tongkul, a famous geologist, the birth of the new island, so-called Pulau Batu Hairan due to mud volcanism is closely related to the geology of the northern part of Sabah. The island was caused by a mud volcano or mud extrusion, evidence of which is abundant on the island and is a common occurrence on mainland Sabah, especially in the Dent Peninsula.
The book “Sabah Museum And Archives Journal” (1990, Vol 1, No.3), published by Sabah State Museum, also has a 6-page article titled “Pulau Batu Hairan – The Birth of a New Island” that explains the formation of this ghost island in detail with diagrams.
I took the photos of this article and post it below. You can click each of the picture to view it in bigger size:
According to the nearby villagers, this island first appeared as early as 1941 (year of pacific WWII, a bad omen?). If you are lazy to read the long article, FYI, the conclusion by geologists is – this mysterious island was pushed to the surface by mud volcano activity (abrupt explosion of trapped undersea gas).
Hi, I think this was the one in Kudat, just appeared once only. The pics should be from Mr Kan Yau Chong, Daily Express.
lost O_o
Hi,
I think I saw these pictures in one of the website in the past, can’t remember the name, appearance and disappearance actually depanding on the tides, every 5yrs the tides go down as much as 15′ and last for 5-6hrs, normally occur at 2am. go to Ocean low n high tides web
Yup, it’s in Kudat. I remember my dad went to it. Even got pictures and all.
hey yah !!!!!!
mana ata pulau antu ma??????
you olang cina gila ka?
only olang gila like yu ma thinking like that
pulau antu……., olang cina memang gila ma, malaykui olang titak mau dengalbullshit ma , halam lah.
hey Yah !!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ata sini Olang cina gila ka?
ata hantu luma saya ma, nanti call ghost buster to go to pulau antu, eating all rocks and sand so no more pulau antu…ok ka? drinking all water jadi no more olang antu, olang cina jangan takut ma,
hey yah !!!!!!!!!!!
hey, hey, hey… your head lah.
u talking kah, soh chai?
They name it as Pulau Batu Hairan, not Pulau Hantu. Its still fresh in my mind during that time. Yes, it was appear somewhere around Kudat area, I guess nearby Banggi Island…just appear for few days…
this is very interesting 🙂
i think these are called sand bars, there is one visible sand bar at tanjung aru beach, only appears during low tide and it is made up of dead corals. it’s painful to walk on it and only accessible by a sailboat. I have been on one in 2012 and the experience was amazing. it disappeared about 4 hours later. 🙂
Yeah, I saw that sand bar too and always want to visit it. 😀 I also heard that there is a nice snorkelling spot next to it.
Hi ! How can I buy the cuttings or plant of the Fig trees you have in your country? I read an article of this Big fig fruit .. lately
evladi7654@aol.com
eugene
USA
“Di Sabah Ada Pulau Berhantu Yang Muncul Selama Dua Tahun Saja?”
Oleh: Dinie Liow
Pulau yang hilang adalah fenomena yang sentiasa berlaku selagi Bumi berputar, sama ada lenyap akibat kenaikan air laut atau akibat yang hanya orang tempatan percaya. Seperti pulau lagenda bernama Atlantis dan Pulau Bermeja di Teluk Mexico yang masih diperdebatkan kewujudannya.
Tapi di Malaysia, terutamanya di utara Sabah digemparkan dengan penemuan pulau misteri yang hanya wujud di permukaan air laut selama dua tahun saja! Nama pulau tersebut ialah Pulau Batu Hairan.
Pada 15 April 1988, para nelayan yang biasa menangkap ikan di perairan Kudat dikejutkan dengan kemunculan pulau kecil yang berdekatan. Terdapat laporan juga menyatakan seorang nelayan yang tertidur dalam botnya pada waktu malam tersadai di pulau misteri itu. Menurut beliau, terdapat ratusan ikan terdampar di atas pulau tersebut.
Maka, para nelayan sana memanggil pulau kecil itu dengan nama Pulau Batu Hairan, selari dengan kehairanan mereka terhadap misteri pulau berbatu itu. Berita pulau tersebut telah tersebar luas sehingga ke negara jiran iaitu Filipina, terutamanya Kepulauan Mindanao. Malah, ramai antara warga Mindanao mendakwa pulau itu adalah milik negara mereka.
Bagi sebilangan masyarakat Kudat, mereka percaya kehadiran pulau kecil itu membawa petanda buruk. Maka, ada antara mereka melakukan majlis kenduri dan upacara pemujaan atas pulau itu bagi menolak bala. Ada juga mereka yang sanggup pergi ke pulau itu untuk dapatkan batu karang yang bertimbun, percaya ia memberikan tuah dan menjualnya kepada para pelancong.
Setelah berita ini sampai ke Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS), Pengarah Pusat Pengurusan Penyelidikan dan Inovasi ketika itu bernama Profesor Dr. Felix Tongkul bersama pasukan penyelidik pergi ke Pulau Batu Hairan pada 4 Mei 1988 untuk melakukan kajian.
Setibanya mereka di sana, mereka mendapati koordinat pulau baru itu dikesan di latitud tujuh darjah ke utara dan di longitud 117 darjah ke timur, terletak di sebelah timur Pulau Banggi. Jarak pulau tersebut sekitar 70 kilometer dari kota Kudat.
Pulau Batu Hairan seluas 60 hingga 70 meter persegi, lebih kurang sama besar dengan padang bola sepak. Tinggi pulau itu mencecah tiga meter dari paras air laut. Pulau itu pula hanya terdiri dari banyaknya terumbu karang, tiada ada sebarang tumbuhan yang hidup, apatah lagi haiwan kecil yang menetap.
Pasukan Profesor Dr. Felix bersepakat bahawa pulau baru ini wujud akibat letusan volkano lumpur di dasar laut. Dasar laut di Sabah aktif dengan mampatan plat tektonik. Apabila mampatan ini terjadi, lumpur di dasar laut mengalami tekanan, kemudian membuak keluar menerusi ledakan volano lumpur.
Ledakan volkano lumpur itu menolak terumbu karang menaik ke permukaan air laut. Lagi banyak lumpur membuak, lagi tinggilah pulau terumbu karang itu. Begitulah proses yang mengakibatkan kewujudan Pulau Batu Hairan.
Namun pada 25 Februari 1990, Pulau Batu Hairan akhirnya hilang. Pada penduduk percaya bahawa pulau itu menghilang dengan sendiri. Tapi bagi Profesor Dr. Felix, pulau itu menghilang kerana sekitarnya sentiasa dibadai ombak besar seterusnya hakisan ke atas pulau mula terjadi. Lama-kelamaan, Pulau Batu Hairan mengecil sehingga ia menghilang ke dasar laut.
Walaupun Pulau Batu Hairan wujud hanya dalam tempoh dua tahun saja, tapi pasukan penyelidik percaya bahawa pulau seperti itu akan muncul kembali kerana aktiviti mampatan plat tektonik masih lagi aktif. Bila ia muncul lagi, biarkan masa tentukan.
……
Very informative! Thank you for sharing.