So, while we were anchored there, we had an evening when I was on watch and a whole bunch

of birds started just kind of flocking around and landing on the ship, which crazy unexpected

it was also like 2 a.m. so it's just me and one of my shipmates who were up on watch

and we're having birds just land all over the boat. You'll hear like a plunk and you'll

look and shine the light and it's bird. So to me that was just an interesting experience

unexpected and it's kind of a weird feeling thinking in this modern era where the world

is so explored. I stepped some place that probably has been perceived, nobody's ever

stepped there before. I'm Dylan Thoris and this is Atlas Obscura, the celebration

of the world's strange, incredible and wondrous places. Today we're going to a place that

no longer exists, the island of Hunga-Tunga-Hunga-Ha-Apai. It was created by volcanic eruption in 2015

and six years later, in January of 2022, it exploded again and this time slipped back

underneath the waves of the South Pacific. We joined someone who stepped foot on that

island in the narrow sliver of time when it was still there to be visited. After this.

I am like genuinely deeply jealous of you, like the idea of being like up, I don't know

how high are you up on the sales. I don't know for sure but maybe 40 feet? Yeah, so

being four or five stories up, like looking out over the ocean, just sailing on this like

big beautiful ship doing science while you're out there, this is like you're describing my dream,

my dream trip here. This is amazing.

There's always work to do on the ship. We would be split up into different watches.

Essentially, during your shift, you might be in the lab, let's say counting Hugh Plankton.

You might be steering the ship or on lookout in the front of the ship.

This is Cam Galant. He is the co-founder of Blob Fishbooks and the host of the Radical Urgency

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