Scientists have discovered swaths of new islands scattered across the world.
Duke University and Meredith College geoscientists were able to add 657 new barrier islands to the total count, adding 30 percent more to the known list. The biggest string of islands happens to fall right off of Brazils coast, 54 islands strong over a stretch of 354 miles.They had previously blended into a mangrove, so scientists werent exactly sure what they were. Scientists cite Google Earth as a key tool in discovering the islands. Still the researchers point out that Some of the islands we did not discover until we visited them. That is, we werent really sure they were barrier islands.There are now 2,149 discovered islands in total.