The remnants of a massive volcano, Ball’s Pyramid juts 1,843 feet out of the Pacific Ocean. It’s one of the surviving above-ground remnants of the once-lost (and recently found) sunken continent of Zealandia. Ball’s Pyramid lies about 14 miles east of Lord Howe Island. It rises some 1,800 feet out of the water and measures about half a mile in length and 980 feet across, which makes it the tallest volcanic stack in the world. The formation is visible from Mount Gower Track on Lord Howe Island.
Discovered in 1788 by Royal Navy Lieutenant Henry Lidgbird Ball, hence the name, the rocky spire was thought to be largely devoid of animal life until 2001 when a group of scientists discovered there what may be the world’s rarest insect.