Can I successfully locate this random guy on a beach?
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- Опубліковано 31 тра 2023
- This certainly felt like my most ambitious Geo Detective challenge yet when I first loaded up the photo. I mean it's just a guy on a beach. All we really have to play with is a few rocks, some pine trees and some turquoise water. Have a bitten off more than I can chew with this one? or will it prove to be easier than expected?
For those new to the channel, geo detective is a series in which I (GeoWizard) attempt to pinpoint the exact location of a photo, be it a fan or something different, using my skills on google earth, google maps and my questionable googling skills. The aim is to get within 25 metres of our target. So far I've only failed once, but there's time yet...
Don't forget to subscribe: / @geowizard
![Playing the "Geodetective" Map - No moving, just calculation. [PLAY ALONG]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WqKqqN54fHo/mqdefault.jpg)
Tom may not have memorized every meta under the sun like today's main geoguessr players, but his unrelenting focus allows him to do what no other pro geoguessr player can: Spend more than 5 minutes on a location
And that's why we love him
I much prefer that style of Geoguessr video. Memorising all the meta is impressive, sure, but it's not exactly entertaining. I definitely prefer watching someone figure the answer out using real knowledge, logic, experience and clues.
It's why I refuse to learn any Geoguessr meta, it would ruin the game for me, the point of the game is to figure out where you are, not to just instantly know the country in 0.0000000000000001 seconds and just stop there. Like, great you memorised all the wing mirror shapes but it's not fun.
@@SaintPhoenixx If you know, you know. The problem comes with adding score to a personal challenge.
Did we watch a different video or was I taking a nap while Tom was playing Geoguessr?
One Tom's strengths which he also kinda used here is getting latitude from the look of the trees.
Tom: completely acceptable pronunciation of Oregon for a Brit.
Tom: Sorry. oh-Rey-gon.
A ray gun
Oregano
O’Ronald Reagan
Everyone I know for Oregon says or-eh-gun
I think he was being sarcastic. He used to always pronounce it with the accent in the middle and everyone made fun of him for it.
As a biologist the first keys to me were 1) no fouling on the rocks (so, lake), 2) no tidal zone (so lake) 3) conifers right into the water line (most likely lake) 4) water clarity for location (lake).
what is fouling?
@@onose10000 Used as a marine environment term, it means a encrusting/coverage of growth of marine organisms and their physical remains. Also see: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fouling )
Honestly my first thought was: "That water looks way too calm for being the ocean coast"
Exactly that!
And also, on a sea beach, you're not going to get trees right up to the shoreline, they tend to be a bit further back. Trees take decades to grow that big, and any sea/ocean will have some kind of storm big enough to rip them out in that time. It had to be sheltered in one way or another.
I hadn't thought of the fouling, though. Nice one!
@@actua99sorry man, but there are many places, especially in Mediterranean (Adriatic) where trees grow near the shore as in this picture.
As someone who lives right near Lake Michigan, this video was a real treat. I think a lot of people don't quite realize the scale of the great lakes. They have more in common with the coastlines than typical lakes. Trade routes, big ships, ports, seemingly endless coastline.
The main thing that gives it away is the way the water is. The oceans have a lot of foamy water that goes up on the beach, but the lakes don't really have that. The waves are also very unpredictable too. The lakes are either super calm, or there are really rapid waves that are choppy.
It's really cool that you were able to figure it out.
Depending on the shape of the beach, the direction it faces, and the direction of the swells ocean beach water can be almost totally still.
There's a beach in the Los Angeles area that has huge surf in the winter and is as flat as a lake in the summer.
AM I RECORDING
We need GeoWizard merch with this quote
AM I COMMENTING
YES WE ARE!!
@@jonnycorry5390 cry
Is it doable?
As a tip, if you ever find yourself referencing a small thumbnail of a Shutterstock image, type in the number in the Shutterstock search bar and you'll be able to view a larger image and see related images. Good job!
True, though in this case I liked the added suspense
That was quite cool! When that shutterstock image popped up it was downright uncanny. “No way, a stock image of the exact rock formation we’re looking for, what are the chances?!”
whats funny is how out of the entire world you already knew where it was from the beginning
This series is very, very interesting and entertaining.
Ikr, I am not going to get bored of them any time soon
They are great, I certainly wouldn't mind longer episodes tho
I agree.
Love this series so much
… Interesting, entertaining also fake
Legitimately my favourite series of yours! Glad to see it’s back, and keep up the brilliant work as always Tom!
This series got me to subscribe
Agreed!.. I made a similar comment
I love that he said “Oregon” basically right the first time and then butchered it the 2nd time😂😂😂
As soon as I saw the image, I thought that this has got to be around the great lakes, or Oregon. I live in Bangladesh and have never been to anywhere outside of South Asia. So I think I will consider that as the greatest GEOGRAPHIC achievement of my life.😅
Believe it or not, this comment makes me feel like my own time spent sitting here in Washington State, using geoguessr to try in some small way to understand the breadth of this big beautiful world full of people, is actually part of something big and reciprocal and real. ❤
I have toured Flowerpot Island many times, so I knew where this was right away!!! What are the chances?! It was really awesome seeing you slowly move your way towards Georgian Bay, using different methods to finally get there. I just can't stop smiling right now
Haha! I’m from Hamilton and also have visited the area many times so I knew by the thumbnail that it must be around there. So cool to see around where I’m from on this series
@@CosmicGloom Also from Hamilton. Off the bat I thought it was Tobermory but this was incredibly fun to watch haha
Yep, grew up on Georgian Bay so I also recognized this immediately. So cool to see our neck of the woods featured!
My wife instantly called this one out as Tobermory when she saw it. I was more impressed with her than with Tom 😂
Same! From the GTA as well and I knew it was Georgian Bay immediately!!
That was impressive. My immediate thought was it had to be a lake bc there seemed to be no wetness on the rocks from waves that would of been there.
Good point! I thought there was something else but couldn’t put my finger on it.
@@GeoWizard lack of ocean vegetation is a clue as well. most shorelines will have seaweed, barnacles, etc. but not all! it was an impressive find for sure
@@GeoWizard I watched loads of Ontario tourism video and my first instinct was Ontario because of that. Also living in Eastern Canada, the vegetation got my instincts tickling
I thought lake too, because I have been to more lakes and it looked similar. Also, there were no waves and I didn't think the ocean would look so calm.
@@julianolotero6600 depends on the day! I've spent my life next to the ocean. There are days it's as flat as glass.
I love this series, please keep them coming! It's pretty funny though, I am personally terrible at geography but find it extremely entertaining to watch someone who is quite skilled.
That was bloody Epic! When I started this video, whilst knowing it was only 20 mins long, I thought this was outright impossible if you hadn´t been there yourself. What impressed me even more, was the methodic approach. First, getting a hold on your bearings - that´s a major piece, and I bet it would not have been very easy if the picture was taken on a cloudy day, but who takes pictures on such days anyways, in a spot like this? Then, narrowing it down bit by bit, judging every bit of nature, like trees, water colours and rock shades and sizes. I am certain now, that you could find almost any spot on this planet as long as you´re motivated for it. Really amazing work, Tom! I bow before the master!
Outrageous how Tom can find the exact location by some water, rocks and trees
But can’t find a big city when playing geoguesser. Makes sense
@@flavioa6351 Because he doesn't spend 70 minutes finding one location in GeoGuessr
Or 40, minus lunch 😅 which is a short time by the way, impressive
kankaaaan
There was a dead giveaway rock.
I finally made it into this series! Glad you enjoyed it Tom, it was hella fun watching your thought process to get there. Final marker is spot on, get in!
Look at this guy taking Percy Pistosio's credit ;)
Its crazy because at the start-ish of the video, Tom says something like "I don't know if there would be clear water like that in Canada", and I thought briefly "Well not sure about Vancouver where he's looking right now but Georgian Bay for sure has incredibly clear water..." and sure enough he made his way there lol
I spent years as an investigator, and doing genealogy, and in my current line of work I still run things down. I'm glad I stumbled on your channel! It took me about 5 min to get to the island, but I don't use Google Earth a lot so it took me a bit longer to find the specific cove. Now time to binge some of your older videos! I really enjoy your content, and your enthusiasm when you figure it out! Thanks!
How did he know it was Northern hemisphere?
@@HAL-vu8efSorry for the late reply in advance, but if the picture was taken in the early morning, with sun rising in the east the picture was taken from the south. If it was taken late in the day, with the sun setting in the west, the picture was taken from the north.
During the normal course of the day, with the location in Canada, the location is well above the Tropic of Cancer, so the Sun is always in the southern part of the sky.
Weird flex
I sometimes pause these videos at the start and try for myself for 15 minutes or so just for the fun of it, and sometimes I've made it to the larger area without it being too obvious (as with for example a Grand Canyon pic) but this time I Googled something very close to what you ended up with (shingle beach lake huron + something along the lines of tourist attraction and balancing boulder) and I found it almost immediately. Can't believe it. Really shows how much hitting the right "buzz words" as you've called them can make a difference sometimes. I did the same search with just altering lake names for maybe 5 minutes before it suddenly popped up. Your tenacity with these is impressive as always!
I tried myself really quickly as well by taking a print out of the stacked rocks and feeding it into Google Lens. I was immediately directed to the Flowerpot Island by a Shuttershock image match. Modern technology is very impressive, but I appreciate much more the analytical way of thinking and the knowledge Tom brings in his videos!
@@FuzunRobotthat's why Tom doesn't use reverse image search (at least not directly of the image in question), because it basically instantly solves any location if you can do that.
Incredible! I live in southern Ontario and I've been camping in that area a few times and immediately recognized it as Georgian Bay near Tobermory, but despite half an hour of searching I couldn't find that exact rock. Well and truly impressed that you managed to pull that off with no prior knowledge of the area.
Yeah Tobermory is such a beautiful place. Same with Owen Sound with all the waterfalls.
I know BC gets all the praise but Ontario can be beautiful. Most Ontarians don't venture out much in this province and so many people think it is a boring province. Yeah most of Southern Ontario isn't great for wilderness but there are so many cool places especially the more north you go.
@@Old_Ladies with all due respect, Owen Sound is not beautiful.
@@Repleh Owen Sound has a lovely downtown area, and the escarpment running through it and the associated parks are great for a city its size. It might not be as polished and done up as some other places, but it's a nice small city.
I thought it was the Bruce Peninsula right off the bat, but I looked around the Grotto, Cabot Head, etc. and the topography wasn't right, so I thought I was off. Flowerpot Island didn't even occur to me.
I have no idea how he did it. I live in north-ish Saskatchewan and could name about a dozen places that look identical to it. Gravel beaches with scattered larger rocks and evergreen trees is like, 60% of the country.
Tom finishes a 20 min video apologizing that it was short. You're the man!
With no advertisement either. super cool
Some of my all time fav UA-cam content. Keep up the good stuff Tom
Brilliant video Tom. I love everything about this series ❤
Absolutely amazing that you managed to get that Tom. Crazy find. Love this series!
The sea stack cliff rocks is the reason it is called flower pot island.
ps.Canadian coastline is massive
Roger, actually it's the world's longest, so yeah, massive is an understatement :D
No, its the one that looks like a flower pot, that appeared on google.
This was hands down your most impressive find so far. Both extremely lucky AND impressive!
Just use Google lens and you can find it in 1 min.
@@SukhbrinderBrar bro doesnt understand the entire premise of geodetective but ok
most entertaining series by far! Even more enjoyable than real life adventures, and surely easier for you to make :) please keep it up!
Canadian here! I've lived in Southern Ontario my whole life. Knew the location was near Tobermory the second I saw the thumbnail! It's a beautiful place. Congrats on finding it, Tom!
I was fearing the worst when you imidiately went coastal, and particularly pacific coast. Top tip, if it's calm salt water in the northern hemisphere, chances are there will be some sort of sea weed or kelp.
My first thought was "that's not gross enough for ocean"
All the BC - Washington ocean beaches have piles of driftwood everywhere along them. It was clearly not the sea.
Good tip
My mind is blown. Amazing as always! Love the series!!
This was really interesting! I appreciate all the deduction skills ;) My first instinct was somewhere around Vancouver because of the trees, but I enjoyed reading all the comments of how people realized it was a lake instead of the ocean.
Insane find! No-one is safe from Tom!
Based on your word choice and syntax, Tom knows your location. He is coming!
Michigan is my home state, so it stood out to me immediately as somewhere in the Great Lakes. However, the fact that you actually found the specific spot is insane to me. Without speciating the trees, there was such little detail to go on here. Very well done
As a fellow Michigan native, I immediately knew it was in MI on a great lake. My first thoughts were over by Petoskey or up near Copper Harbor.
I live in California now, but ffs Michigan is a beautiful state.
Lake Superior was my first thought _ MI native
Thank you for another Geo Detective video, I really look forward to watching every one of them.
Here's a funny thing - I just now discovered you and this is the first video of yours I've seen. So, I subscribed, then went and watched the very first video in this series. In that first video, you singled out this very photo and said it was impossible!
I immediately said "that's a lake in Canada" while you were still looking at seaside locations so I'm also taking this as a win!
I love this series so much! Don't stop!
I enjoy the previous episode recap so I know I didn't miss an episode. This is definitely my favorite series of yours.
First time watching your channel. Great find! When you were going through Oregon beaches I thought it might be fresh water, and my mind went to the Great Lakes region. So glad you found its precise location!
This is your best series. More please, particularly historical photos.
The moment I saw the photo I was 99% certain it was taken in Tobermory. Beautiful place in Ontario and lucky to have visited a few times. Great work and great video Tom
Exactly! I instantly thought of Bruce peninsula!
Theres a pebble beach near lions head- i was convinced it was there. Only off by a couple dozen kms, i guess
When I visted Bruce I went to The Grotto and Halfway Log Dump. Immediately thought it could be in the area. Like Tom, didn't realize it could be an island haha
@@shawn.champagne i immediately thought of the beach at the devils pulpit
Door County, WI looks like this too. Specifically Pebble Beach, Sister Bay, WI
I’ve lived on the Bruce peninsula my whole life and I took my friends from Utah and California up to Tobermory last year. I recognized the location immediately lol.. Thanks for the awesome video, Tom! 👊🏼
Just stumbled across this channel , i spend hours just looking at different parts of the world n google earth especially places i've been to see if i can recognise anything .
This was great 👍
Wow, incredible find. I'm from Toronto and it my first instinct was the Georgian Bay - very distinct looking, like the Tobermory area, but no chance I'd ever find that. I love this series!
im from the gta too, and even tho ive never been to georgian bay, the picture instantly jumped out to me as the great lakes :p
Utterly impressive to manage to find that spot, well done!
I lived in Washington State for almost 40 years, and knew by the stones on the beach it had to be elsewhere. I just discovered your channel, and subscribed. Thanks for the fun topic!
I knew the look of the lake but thought it might have been somewhere on Lake Superior. Great find. I used to scuba dive on Flower Pot island; it was part of my Advanced course involving a deep dive. Cheers, Steve
My absolute most favorite type of geography content. Please more!❤
NO way! I visited Bruce Peninsula National Park in July 2021 and I told myself "Is this the Georgian Bay maybe? Tobermory? Looks kind of similar."
When I visited I was over near The Grotto and Halfway Log Dump. I had a quick scan but didn't realize it was an island. Didn't actually expect this to be in the area. Awesome stuff!
Great job locating this, people from Ontario who’ve visited Owen Sound / Tobermory / Wiarton and area or the Michigan upper peninsula would have immediately recognized it as being from that area, but pinpointing it so quickly is still remarkable. Well done!
I immediately clocked it as the UP area, I have only visited once but it is super iconic. I am proud of myself LOL.
I agree, I've been to Tobermory and that's what I thought as soon as I saw it too. Like teapot island with that rock
Anyone who's visited an area is more likely to identify it, right?
You should consider using a topographical overlay so that you can rule out flat areas vs hilly ones. You could see in this pic that its a pretty big hill in the background which would rule out a ton of beachfront space.
i'm from ontario and the second you loaded up the image, i knew instantly it was somewhere on the bruce peninsula (where flowerpot island is). i've actually been to flowerpot before - it gets its name from the huge "stack of rocks" in the shape of a flower pot
I also thought flower pot island too. I was joking to myself though! I've been there. I can't believe I instantly kind of guessed that.
I visited the Bruce Peninsula area in July 2021 and told myself "Huh, looks kind of similar" and scanned the coast. I didn't visit Flower Pot Island but I did go to The Grotto and Halfway Log Dump which have the same rocky beaches and clear water. Pretty cool!
Fellow Brit here... I saw the picture and immediately thought of the Great Lakes and the name Flowerpot Island jumped into my head - but I've never been there, never seen it, I only know of it from researching some places mentioned in a Martha and the Muffins song (You Sold the Cottage) a couple of decades ago. Couldn't believe it when it turned out to be true!
First time watching your channel. I’m from the Netherlands, never ever visit North America in my life, but the first thing that came to my mind was Canada. I don’t say I eventually would have found the right spot, but was amazed by myself that I was in the right direction. Gonna watch some more of your vids.
As a lifelong Michigan resident, I clicked on this one, knowing without a doubt it was one of our Great Lakes. Though if I'm honest, my money was on Superior. Definitely a few pebble beaches (gotta love those Lake Superior agates) to choose from, with the same beautiful trees and rocky coastlines. I've only seen Huron on this side--often fished in Saginaw Bay with my grandfather as a child--but am certainly inspired, now, to travel and see what the Canadians are blessed to enjoy.
Great video, as always!
Looks like the water is somewhat low on the google earth image at 17:45. You can see the two stones in front of the random guy in the photo in the google earth image as well, but they are 1 or 2 meters from the water line.
Just gotta say, I’ve been to flower pot island multiple times so I knew it instantly. It was so fun seeing you figure it out
I love good pho'os, especially the ones wiff wo'a. ^^ Great series!
I LOVE this videos. Please, never stop making them. Best Wishes from Germany!
I had my money on Maine or New Brunswick, as Washington & B.C. seemed too obvious. A rock that distinctive would have to be the key. Well played! Now can you do some more historical mystery photos? Those are great because you have to make sweeping generalizations about people and see what places used to look like.
Yes!! I was waiting for this image! I saw it ages ago when you scrolled through the upcoming images of this series and it immediately reminded me of when i visited the bruce peninsula five years ago during an exchange term. Can't believe my guess out of the blue would have been just like 3 miles off!
Same here I went to Bruce Peninsula in July 2021 and immediately thought it could be in the area haha
I am genuinely surprised. This was a stellar job, Tom! ✨
these are some of my favorite vids on your channel.
This is the first time I’ve seen Tom look at a place I’ve actually been to. Tobermory and Flowerpot Island are beautiful, and I thought the landscape looked familiar to the places I’ve been on Georgian Bay.
I would love to watch a series where Tom did his Geo detective thing, but then went to the actual place to recreate the photo, also having to ask the locals to act as extras to be the other people that might feature in the original photo. I suppose it would probably have to be limited to teh UK though or that would be a loooot of travelling.
OMG, cracking idea mate! (Lol, me trying to sound British) that would get SOOOOO expensive so quickly!!!! 😂😂😂
I'm from the U.P., currently living in Wisconsin. I recognized that type of beach immediately. Fun to watch Tom explore the lakes.
This was a good one! I think kind of regular 10-30 min long videos are a great choice :D
02:48 are those the shingle beaches in my area that all the ads keep telling me about?
top tier
Love this series Tom!
I love this. Great concept. Subscribed.
Kind of wild how different these videos are to the adventures and they both are so damn enjoyable 🍻
i was relieved when you picked up on it being a lake. i thought the shape of the pebbles and the 2 big boulders definitely looked like relics of a glacier and therefore it had to be a lake. well done man!
This is a very nice series for people intrested in Geoguessr or just to learn geolocation 5/5
This is the first of your videos I've watched, but I'm sure that if it had been longer I wouldn't have started it. So I think you made the right decision to do 1 per video in the future.
Good video, though! It was interesting watching your steps to figure it out.
Nice, my first thought when I saw that picture was it reminded me of Mackinac Island, a popular tourist spot off the cost of Michigan in Lake Huron. Cool to see it’s close by!
Im so proud of myself as a native Minnesotan for being able to recognize a great lake in an instant. When you were searching the sea I was like "Nah, can't be. Gotta be a great lake."
Yes, another GeoWizard upload. Actually mkaes it a great day when Tom uploads
First view of the pic and I was thinking Michigan UP coast on Lake Superior. Well done, man. Brilliant!
Honestly Crazy that Tobermory was my immediate first thought when I saw this, but didn't think it was as there is so many options out there. Great Job!
goodness, I've never watched a geolocation before, but I enjoyed the hell out of this video. I love real life puzzles, and this guy has good intuition and focus. Very satisfying!
He really is great advertisement for the game. And quite lovely how one can play it like this without even a trial pass, just fully random and free.
being from Ontario, my first thought was this looks like Ontario trees. Georgian bay is stunning btw! a shallow large bay in lake Huron with warmer waters. my summer vacations
Love seeing how you approach this! I do this sort of thing all the time, but as a satisfying waste of time.
First Geo Detective I watch and damn this was fun and impressive! =)
Using google lens while watching video, zoomed into the rock formation, it had Flowerpot Island in its 3rd suggestion. The formation was similar, but not the exact one, so it would have taken a bit more to find the right spot. Can see why they call it Flowerpot as it has many of these formations.
Made a screenshot of the rock formation and asked google image search. First result was exactly that one. No problem.
Same here with Google Lens. 30 seconds tops it takes to solve this exercise. I knew it would be once I saw hikers on the beach because the spot and that rock would be fairly photogenic and easy work for Google Lens.
As a Torontonian, the Georgian Bay's beaches are on my top list of summer getaway destinations. Literally any beach along the coast is that stunning! Nice job finding it.
Out of sheer curiosity since I'm likely never going to be able to visit, does the weather get warm enough for actually bathing in the lake? The looks are stunning on its own but as an amateur swimmer I'd love to take a dip too lol
@@MatNightmare In the summer yes. Not super warm though. If you want warmer water though the Canadian coast of lake Erie is filled with really nice beaches and because the lake is so shallow it gets very warm during the summer and the colour of the water is just as good.
@@MatNightmare it's refreshing... Can be cold but our summers are warm enough.
@@MatNightmare The side of the peninsula that Flowerpot Island is on is quite cold, but the Lake Huron side of the peninsula has a number of large, shallow beaches that are much warmer and great for swimming.
@@MatNightmare Temperature is very subjective, so maybe not for you. From a Google Wasaga Beach (the main one for trips from Toronto) water temperature is averaging about 20 degrees in July and August when the weather is typically 25-30 degrees.
Used to go to school right near Lake Ontario all the Great Lakes have this kind of rocky beach, surprised you got that one so quick Tom. I immediately recognized it as Great Lakes somewhere but never would have got it right
That's impressive! I immediately knew it was Georgian Bay, but I had no idea how you'd discover that if you hadn't been there. Fun fact, these distinctive rock formations are called the Niagara Escarpment, which as you might guess is what Niagara Falls falls off of.
Oh, wow. I figured it was in Ontario when you showed the photo, from the trees and the slope.
Let’s goo! I love geo detective! Keep up all the great work Tom!
Something to note regarding the whole "unbroken beach" theory. Much of the region you are looking at in Northern Ontario is part of the Canadian Shield, which is an ancient mountain thats weathered away with time. So that area has a lot of rock and sharp cliff faces near lakes.
Love this, thanks! It’s precisely the sort of detective work I love to do myself 😊
That's Georgian Bay, ontario. I can tell from just the thumbnail, this is written before I've watched, but I'm certain
I know the photo. some say it's Canada, some day it's Russia. that's the version with the photoshopped bears.^^
Congrats, well done
Love this series, but google image search really takes a lot of the fun out of it. I found the lake in 20 seconds using it
That was my thought too.
Really? What specific search did you do?
I live on Georgian Bay, and my first guess was The Grotto at Bruce Peninsula National Park, which is very close to Flowerpot Island. The giveaway is the combination of the water colour and the tree species, which is quite unique to that area.
My wife and I travel to Tobermory / flower pot island every year and we were screaming this whole video flower pot island the whole time !! Satisfying being right at the end lol ! Great video
Great video tom, maybe a tip relevant with tricky photos like these is to look for hiking tracks as there were many average people there. So, looking for hiking tracks that lead to a beach or whatever wouldn't be a bad idea
4:42 Am I the only Twilight fan who was like " LA PUSH, BABY!" When we moved from Oregon to Washington and first beach he hit was La Push 🤣🤣
I KNEW I WAS NOT THE ONLY ONE 😂
Awesome work Tom. I suspected it was a lake because of the clear water and zero no features, but the way you zeroed in was impressive.
This is my favorite content, man. Damn impressive!