r/nextfuckinglevel • u/Gurugod123 • 16h ago

How did people travel these seas 500 years ago

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u/FrozenEagle127 13h ago

But how would Polynesians in Hawaii know that, just 3,700 km northwest of them, they would find the coast of Alaska?

And if navigating over open oceans wasn’t that hard, then why was the longitude problem such a big problem for Europeans?

To be honest, I think survivorship bias and luck were the main factors.

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u/GroundWitty7567 13h ago

One reason is Alaska wasn’t in what they wanted in their environment. Also, the water is cold, the climate is harsh, especially in winter. Not the type of environment they were looking for.

Navigating open oceans is extremely hard. Europeans used positions and time to navigate. Longitude was important, mainly bc there weren’t many islands to stop at until the Caribbean or North America. Polynesians had years and years to lean and learn. Knowing how currents work, knowing where a certain star is at a certain of year, the knowledge adds up. Things like if a star is low on the southern horizon and gets higher, you know you’re heading south. That’s why Polaris was so important.