> Hawaii is 1313 miles from Midway Island
Close-up: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papahānaumokuākea_Marine_Natio...
Clearly easy to navigate due to many small islands / reefs.
> The closest useful island to New Zealand is the Raoul Island in the Kermadecs (which was settled by Polynesians from New Zealand).
980 Km distance or so, less than e.g. Iceland from the rest of Europe. Where is the mystery?
What I'd like to know is how these atolls and islands looked a few 1000 years ago, with lower sea levels (what is the rough estimate, 3 meters per millennium?).
Most of the small south Pacific islands were first settled in the past 1000-2000 years, and even some major ones like Hawaii and New Zealand. Sea levels haven't changed much at all in the past 3000 years. Certainly nothing approaching even one meter over that time.
Re:Sea People: The Puzzle of Polynesia
by EdwardDiego on Friday March 22, 2019 @11:29PM
(#19468890)
...That's not at all in the direction of the Marquesas. Look south.
The closest useful island to New Zealand is the Raoul Island in the Kermadecs (which was settled by Polynesians from New Zealand).
I encourage you to look at Google Maps and understand the scale of the Pacific. https://www.google.co.nz/maps/place/Marquesas+Islands,+Frenc...