Forum logoIs it possible to know what the tide was like at Nikumaroro when Earhart may have arrived there?
Not yet. We are in the process of accumulating current tide tables for Nikumaroro. None exist for 1937, so the information would have to be extrapolated from Samoa (700 NM away) or Kanton (200 NM away). Unfortunately, such extrapolations are not terribly reliable. Add to that the distance in time, and the fact that it only takes a small error to add up to six hours, and it would be quite possible to be exactly opposite the reality. Even on the 1999 expedition, extrapolation from current tide tables available for Samoa turned out to be off by a factor of approximately 50% – a three hour error. Anyway, once correct, current tide tables are in place, we will be able, with modern software, to design tables which will be reasonably accurate for 1937.

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