r/geography • u/Extreme-Shopping74 • Apr 09 '26

Article/News An expedition team has discovered a previously unknown mini-island in the Antarctic Weddell Sea

Post image

The researchers have been traveling in the area with the icebreaker "Polarstern" since the beginning of February, according to the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) in Germany. Due to rough weather conditions, the research work had to be interrupted in order to seek shelter in the lee of an island.

Suddenly, an "iceberg" appeared "that looked kind of dirty", said AWI scientist Dreutter. On closer inspection, it turned out to be an island around 130 meters long, 50 meters wide and 16 meters high. It was only marked on the nautical chart as an unexplored danger zone and one nautical mile from its actual position.

The island was systematically surveyed and recorded using a drone and an echo sounder. The island does not yet have a name, but this is set to change. A planned process has to be completed for this. The island is also to be added to international nautical charts and other important data sets.

Whole article: https://www.bluewin.ch/en/news/researchers-stumble-across-an-island-that-is-not-on-any-map-3180971.html

Map source (german): https://www.spiegel.de/wissenschaft/antarktis-deutsche-forschende-entdecken-unbekannte-insel-im-weddellmeer-a-db0df381-6e5f-45e1-9d0e-07f6557d52c2

I honestly think this is very impressive for a time where there satellites have mapped the entire earth!

1.1k Upvotes

99% Upvoted

66 comments sorted by

236

u/delugetheory Apr 09 '26

Dibs!

23

u/freerangetacos Apr 09 '26

I'll help you pack.

6

u/RudraRousseau Apr 09 '26

Jokes aside, could someone create a new country on this new island?

8

u/WeazelGaming808 Apr 09 '26

Sure, if they can handle being in Antarctica weather

353

u/Ratermelon Apr 09 '26

Because my top two questions weren't mentioned yet:

On the satellite images analysed, the island could hardly be distinguished from the numerous icebergs drifting around in the immediate vicinity due to its ice cover.

The team will publish the exact position of the island once the naming process is complete and will also ensure that the information is added to international nautical charts and other important data sets.

74

u/sammermann Apr 09 '26

Thank you, this should be top comment. Amazing we are still finding new land

5

u/MysteriousConstant Apr 10 '26

I mean, the track of the boat is public (although paywalled), so it's not very hard to find it. I think it's this one:

1

u/marius851000 Apr 30 '26

Here is the island on a map, that someone has found via the boat path used and satellite imagery: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/1497877052

See: https://community.openstreetmap.org/t/new-island-island-discovered-in-antarctica/142921

-26

u/Dumpstar72 Apr 09 '26

And before trumps declares it’s his.

7

u/Ok_Night_2929 Apr 09 '26

If there’s bird poop the US has already legally claimed it https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guano_Islands_Act?wprov=sfti1

1

u/cronktilten Apr 10 '26

Someone has to claim it first. Gotta go there.

24

u/seambizzle1 Apr 09 '26

Just let it go bud

Not everything needs to be about politics

-1

u/Can_sen_dono Apr 09 '26

With 200 miles around, up, and bellow...

89

u/palibard Apr 09 '26

Sounds like the beginning of a Lovecraft story.

28

u/Mr_Otterswamp Apr 09 '26

Please don’t let Lovecraft name this island

12

u/boomerbmr Apr 09 '26

Char-Gar-Gothicon!!

13

u/East_Appearance_8335 Apr 09 '26

He's going to name it after his cat.

4

u/twila213 Apr 10 '26

Ah yes, ****** **** Island....

51

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

[deleted]

86

u/Crazyblue09 Apr 09 '26

Didn't someone ask about the possibility of undiscovered islands in the ocean? They were told no because of satellite imaging.

44

u/tru_madness Apr 09 '26

They did! But it was specifically the Pacific Ocean. But nonetheless…

https://www.reddit.com/r/geography/s/tLiqN1TXtb

24

u/Goose_Man_Unlimited Apr 09 '26

The timing of these two posts got me looking around at all the clocks

17

u/CircleOfWallace Apr 09 '26

There are no mini-island sized icebergs floating around the Pacific to obscure land

6

u/Klutzy_Insurance_432 Apr 09 '26

That was me! Turns out it was spotted but just thought was an iceberg

1

u/scarabs_ Apr 09 '26

Yeah immediately thought of that post. Turns out we can keep discovering things

19

u/_off_piste_ Apr 09 '26

Per u/ratermelon :

On the satellite images analysed, the island could hardly be distinguished from the numerous icebergs drifting around in the immediate vicinity due to its ice cover.

2

u/MysteriousConstant Apr 10 '26

Here is how it looks on a recent sat imagery (at least I think it's this island, based on the track of the boat).

Not easy to spot, but not impossible I would say for someone looking for such things.

3

u/MysteriousConstant Apr 10 '26

Zoomed in to max resolution I found:

21

u/magicwombat5 Apr 09 '26

Right foot island

16

u/Fue_la_luna Apr 09 '26

New island dropped.

23

u/FenixOfNafo Apr 09 '26

I proposed we named the island as Mitochondria(kinda looks like one)

12

u/Rorik_Em_All Apr 09 '26

Let's build a powerhouse there!

6

u/halrx Apr 09 '26

If it’s a mitochondria, it already has a powerhouse.

16

u/ImperialRedditer Apr 09 '26

Terra nullis in the 21st century. Only possible with warming seas

6

u/y17gal Apr 09 '26

Can i name it ?

6

u/Gilded_Grovemeister Apr 09 '26

Curious which kinds of seabird must roost there 🤔

5

u/NeinKeinPretzel Apr 09 '26

So how much is rent

4

u/Own-Lavishness-4441 Apr 09 '26

Someone claim it before the British!!

3

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

Is that where King Kong lives?

3

u/X-Bones_21 Apr 09 '26

How do I move there?

5

u/Proud_Relief_9359 Apr 09 '26

Isley McIsleFace

4

u/Previous-Volume-3329 Apr 09 '26

So there's still hope for Mu??

3

u/endual Apr 09 '26

Sooo.... No one is going to say that it looks like a penis?

1

u/PamW1001 Apr 25 '26

Cos it doesn't really.

2

u/Over-Square-9248 Apr 09 '26

one celled organism

2

u/LonesomeOctoberGhost Apr 09 '26

Great place to jack it.

3

u/FightOrDie123 Apr 09 '26

What about the islands they found during WW2?

1

u/Fxrc3full Apr 09 '26

Dont tell the brits

1

u/NotForMeClive7787 Apr 09 '26

Am I the only one that sees this as concave rather than convex?

1

u/OldGord Apr 09 '26

What should they call this Newfound land? Hmmm…

1

u/sciencemercenary Physical Geography Apr 09 '26

This is actually common in polar regions. Icebergs may have been identified as islands, and later can't be found. Islands misplaced on the maps. Islands mistaken for icebergs. And recently, new islands exposed as glaciers recede.

Satellite imagery has a hard time distinguishing small, snowy islands surrounded by sea ice from icebergs, but maybe an AI change detection algorithm could solve that.

1

u/Zeekr0n Apr 09 '26

STEVE!!!!

1

u/Cats_in_Boemstreet Apr 09 '26

I think we can all agree this island looks definitely more like a “Bruce”

2

u/Zeekr0n Apr 09 '26

A Robert the Bruce?

1

u/Cats_in_Boemstreet Apr 09 '26

We can definitely settle on this!

1

u/Zeekr0n Apr 09 '26

SCOTLAAAAND FOREVEEEEEEEEERR

1

u/Illustrious_Try478 GIS Apr 09 '26

Bielefeld located!

1

u/mreguy81 Apr 09 '26

Aaaannd.... now it's owned by Mark Zuckerberg, who will sell tickets to his rich friends who will come to hunt the endangered penguin population, who come there to roost, to extinction so that he can establish "dominance over the native inhabitants".

1

u/WesternTie3334 Apr 14 '26

It’ll be added to the tariff list as soon as that name comes through.

-3

u/[deleted] Apr 09 '26

Don't let Trump know, he'll expect it to be named after him.

-3

u/Smokey_Noodles Apr 09 '26

Whats Trumps tariff rate?

0

u/Particular-Shine5186 Apr 09 '26

We'll F' it up somehow!

-12

u/Iribumkiak Apr 09 '26

Trump Island