3 min read

Trace Labs Challenge # 9

Trace Labs Challenge # 9

Hey everyone — 404Yeti back again with another Trace Labs OSINT challenge.
This one looks calm and peaceful… but don’t let the clouds fool you. This is a classic low-context GEOINT problem.

Objective

Identify:

  • The lake
  • The geographic coordinates of the lake

Tools Used

  • Google Images — reverse image searching
  • Google Maps — location verification & coordinates
  • Street View — ground-level confirmation

Image:

At first glance, this image gives us very little:

  • Open lake in the foreground
  • Grass and a walking path on the left
  • Distant city skyline
  • Heavy cloud cover
  • No signs, no landmarks, no text

This is exactly the kind of image that rewards patience and reframing.

Step 1: Reverse Image Search

We upload the image to Google Images.

Initial Result

We get a flood of:

  • Generic lake photos
  • European cityscapes
  • No exact match

This tells us:

❌ The lake itself isn’t famous enough
✅ The context is what matters

Step 2: Reframe the Search (Background Focus)

Instead of searching the whole image, we crop tightly around the distant buildings on the horizon and re-run the reverse image search.

💥 This is the breakthrough.

Suddenly we start seeing repeated references like:

  • “Rotterdam, Netherlands”
  • “Kralingse Plas”

When multiple unrelated sources point to the same name, that’s not coincidence — that’s signal.

Step 3: Pivot to Google Maps

We now search for Kralingse Plas in Google Maps.

Immediately we notice:

  • A large lake near the city
  • Walking paths along the edge
  • Residential and commercial buildings visible across the water

Visually, it’s already a strong match.

Step 4: Street View Verification

Next, we drop Pegman near the walking trail.

Here’s what confirms it:

  • The same shoreline curvature
  • A matching paved path on the left
  • Distant skyline alignment
  • Similar vegetation patterns

One detail looks different — a tree near the waterline — but trees grow, get trimmed, or removed over time. That’s normal and not a disqualifier.

🧊 Yeti Rule #2: Structures are stronger evidence than foliage.

At this point, we can confidently say:

This image was taken at Kralingse Plas.

Step 5: Extracting Geographic Coordinates

To get coordinates for a large body of water:

  1. Zoom to the approximate center of the lake
  2. Right-click → What’s here?
  3. Copy the latitude and longitude

⚠️ Note:
For large features like lakes, coordinates are approximate, not a single exact point. That’s acceptable unless the challenge specifies otherwise.

Final Answer: Kralingen Lake, Rotterdam, Netherlands 51°56'08"N 4°30'57"E

Why This Is Important

This challenge teaches several core OSINT skills:

  • Cropping and reframing images
  • Prioritizing background context over foreground subjects
  • Verifying locations using multiple independent sources
  • Understanding the limits of coordinate precision

Real investigations often start with worse images than this.

Final Thoughts from the Yeti

This was a textbook example of:

“There’s always more information — you just haven’t zoomed in the right place yet.”

Great challenge, clean pivot, solid confirmation.
Another one iced and bagged.

Stay curious. Stay methodical.
404Yeti out. 🐾❄️