Hunt is on for Amelia Earhart's missing plane on remote island

The disappearance of one of the world's most famous pilots has been a mystery for nearly 90 years.

Amelia Earhart was known around the world for being the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

In 1937, Amelia attempted to fly around the world with her navigator Fred Noonan. The pair disappeared part way through their journey, with no trace of their plane ever found.

But now investigators are trying to find clues to Amelia's disappearance on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean.

A team of 17 researchers from the Archaeological Legacy Institute (ALI) and Purdue University arrived at Nikumaroro island on Monday following a five-day, 830 mile voyage.

Nikumaroro is part of the Republic of Kiribati - a country made up of 33 islands.

Over five days they will investigate the whereabouts of Amelia's fallen plane - a Lockheed Electra.

This is no easy task - the team may need to contend with bad weather caused by El Niño as well as some pretty pesky crabs.

All this is in pursuit of one goal - to identify a mysterious object that has been spotted on satellite imaging.

It's been named the Taraia Object. It was first discovered in 2020, and researchers have been keeping a keen eye on it ever since.

This research trip is the first permitted trip to the island in seven years, say Purdue University.

"It is incredibly rewarding to be this close to completing our inspection of the Taraia Object and potentially solving, at long last, the outstanding mystery of the disappearance of Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan more than 89 years ago," said the expedition leader Rick Pettigrew.

Nikumaroro is covered in coconut crabs who come out at night to feed on small animals. The crew will return to their ship at night to avoid a crab attack.

These crabs - also known as robber crabs - are the largest and heaviest land-dwelling crustaceans.

Their legs can measure up to 1 metre long, and they are incredibly strong - with some reports saying they are able to lift 28 kilograms (62lbs).

That's roughly seven times their own 4 kilogram body weight!

Unlike most crabs, coconut crabs are also ferocious hunters. They have been known to feed on rats and birds, and are even able to climb trees.

So it's easy to see why the team would prefer to sleep on their ship rather than on the island at night.