Researchers Discover Mysterious Island in Antarctic Danger Zone – Fact Check

Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia - A study has discovered a previously unrecorded island in the northwestern Weddell Sea, Antarctica. The location had long been marked as a ‘danger zone’ on maritime navigation charts without detailed information on its landform.

The discovery was announced by the German polar research institute Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) after a 93-member expedition team conducted research in Antarctica since February 2026 aboard the icebreaker Polarstern. The island was found accidentally when the team had to halt their research due to extreme weather and seek shelter near Joinville Island. Initially mistaking the distant object for an iceberg, they later realised it was rock.

‘We changed course and approached. The closer we got, the clearer it became that there was an island ahead,’ said AWI researcher Simon Dreutter, as quoted by Vice on Friday, 29 May.

AWI states the island is approximately 130 metres long, 50 metres wide, and rises 16 metres above sea level. Scientists are still investigating why the area was labelled a ‘danger zone’ for so long, with initial theories pointing to unmapped underwater ridges causing sudden depth changes hazardous to navigation.

The latest find highlights the vast uncharted areas of Antarctica. AWI notes only about a quarter of Antarctic waters have been mapped in detail. The institute has begun the official naming process, with coordinates to be published and added to international navigation charts once completed.