North Sentinel Island IN - The Most Isolated People and They Like It That Way

North Sentinel Island - Landsat ETM+ Image Circa 2000 From Google Earth (1:62,500)

North Sentinel Island - ESA Image 2005 (1-62,500)

Let's begin this post with a discussion of my two base images. The first one is a modified Landsat ETM+ extracted from Google Earth. I have the Landsat ETM+ image found on N-46-10_2000 and used it for one of the vegetation layers found on my completed map. However the shoreline, sand beach and forest was extracted from the Google Earth image. Both of the above images were georectified to my N-46-10_2000 image. The Landsat image is circa 2000. The ESA image was taken following the devestating December 2004 earthquake and tsunami. The offshore reefs underwater in the circa 2000 image are uplifted. They were raised as a direct result of the 9.0 earthquake. The island was also hit by the series of tsunamis that created such death and destruction throughout the region.

North Sentinel Island - EEVS Map (1:62,500)

My map displays both shorelines of North Sentinel Island. The enlarged beaches and submerged reefs are parts of the new shoreline. The island proper was mapped at scales between 1:12,500 to 1:6,250. The new shoreline and raised reefs were mapped at a scale of 1:50,000. The map is a nice effort. It looks good and reflects the effects of December 2004.

Sentineli Man ShootIng Arrow at Helicopter

I want to say a few things about a group of people that call North Sentinel Island home. They have called it home for about 60,000 years. They are a remnant of the original "out-of-Africa" movement around 100,000 years ago. Follow this link to the Andaman Association and their fascinating site about the Lonely Islands (Andaman Islands). George Weber has gathered information about the inhabitants of the Andamans and specifically the people inhabiting North Sentinel. This group wants nothing to do with the outside world. The population estimate is about 250 individuals. The picture, taken from the Andaman Association website shows the Sentineli's defiant attitude. After the December 2004 earthquake and tsunamis, the Indian government sent a group of concerned scientists to North Sentinel to check on the well-being of the inhabitants. The heli was greeted by the lone man attempting to shoot the big bothersome machine out of the sky. The Sentinelis are doing just fine and they could care less about the world and all of its mysteries. I hope they are able to survive, if only to remind us of that different way we all once worked with nature which is so different from our attempts to mold and control nature today.

Enjoy!