The Eye, Floating island within circular lake in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina.
The Eye is a round floating island that spins slowly on a circular lake in Buenos Aires Province. The island measures roughly 120 meters across and sits within a ring-shaped channel whose edges are also covered with vegetation.
The island was already known to locals, and satellite imagery shows it existed at least since 2003. In 2016 Argentinian filmmaker Sergio Neuspiller and hydraulic engineer Ricardo Petroni publicised it and launched a crowdfunding campaign for an expedition with scuba diving, drone surveys and soil and plant analysis. The Kickstarter drive closed on 10 October 2016 having raised US$9,898 of a US$50,000 goal.
The name El Ojo, "The Eye", comes from how the round island sits inside its ring of water and seems to shift as it turns, so from above it looks like a moving eye. Filmmaker Sergio Neuspiller chose the name in 2016, when he and his crew brought the island to wider attention; locals already knew it. The island is often compared to the rotating ice disks seen on the Presumpscot River near Westbrook, Maine.
Reaching the site requires a boat trip through the Paraná Delta waterways, as it lies far from usual routes. The best view comes from the water, since the round shape and rotation are clearest from a distance.
The island's near-perfect circle comes from shearing at its outer edge as it turns, the same process that shapes rotating ice disks; it was compared to one seen in Maine's Presumpscot River. Its diameter is about 118 m and erosion is expected to shrink it over time.
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