Bouvet Island (Norwegian:
Bouvetøya) is an uninhabited
Antarctic volcanic island in the South
Atlantic Ocean, south-southwest of
the Cape of Good Hope (South Africa).
It is a dependent territory (Norwegian:
biland) of Norway and is not subject
to the Antarctic Treaty. It is the
most remote island in the world. There
are several very small islands near
it (including Lars Island to the southwest),
forming altogether an island group.[3]
It lies 1,370 miles
southwest of Cape Agulhas at the tip
of South Africa and 1,020 miles southeast
of Gough Island in the South Atlantic,
making it the most isolated piece
of land on earth. It is, according
to sailors who frequent those waters,
one of the most fearsome places on
the planet. Surrounded by vertical
ice cliffs, outcrops of sheer volcanic
rocks, skerries, and reefs, it is
difficult to land and equally difficult
to leave, and rock and ice falls occur
continuously. [2]
Bouvet Island is the
most remote island in the world. The
nearest land is Queen Maud Land, Antarctica,
over 1,600 km (1,000 miles) away to
the south, which in itself does not
have any fixed population, but is
inhabited with a Nordic all-year round
research station.
Bouvet Island does not
have any ports or harbours, only anchorages
offshore, and is therefore difficult
to approach. Wave action has created
a very steep coast. The easiest way
to access the island is with a helicopter
from a ship. The glaciers form a thick
ice layer falling in high cliffs into
the sea or onto the black beaches
of volcanic sand. The 29.6 km (18.4
miles) of coastline are often surrounded
by an ice pack. The highest point
on the island is called Olavtoppen,
whose peak is 780 m (2,559 ft) above
sea level. A lava shelf on the island's
west coast formed between 1955 and
1958, and provides a nesting site
for birds.
Because of the harsh
climate and ice-bound terrain, vegetation
is limited to lichens and mosses.
Seals, seabirds and penguins are the
only fauna.
History
Aerial photoBouvet Island was probably
discovered on January 1, 1739, by
Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier,
who commanded the French ships Aigle
and Marie. However, the island's position
was not fixed accurately, having been
placed eight degrees to the east,
and Bouvet did not circumnavigate
his discovery, so it remained unknown
whether it was an island or part of
a continent.
During 1772, Captain
James Cook left South Africa on a
mission to find the island. However,
when arriving at 54°S 11°E?
/ ?54°S 11°E? / -54; 11 where
Bouvet had said he sighted the island,
nothing was to be seen. Captain Cook
assumed that Bouvet had taken an iceberg
for an island, and he abandoned the
search.
The island was not sighted
again until 1808, when it was seen
by James Lindsay, the captain of the
Enderby Company whaler Snow Swan.
Though he didn't land, he was the
first to fix the island's position
correctly. Since this deviated greatly
from the (incorrect) position previously
recorded for Bouvet, it was initially
assumed to be a different island and
was named Lindsay Island. Only later
was it established that Bouvet and
Lindsay must be the same.
Captain Benjamin Morrell
of the sealer Wasp claimed to have
landed on Bouvet in December 1822
to hunt for seals, but his account
is disputed.
On December 10, 1825,
Captain Norris, master of the Enderby
Company whalers Sprightly and Lively,
landed on the island, named it Liverpool
Island, and claimed it for the British
Crown. Again, it was not known with
certainty at the time that this was
the same island found previously.
He also reported sighting a second
island nearby, which he named Thompson
Island. Not any trace of this island
now remains.
In 1898, the German
Valdivia expedition of Carl Chun visited
the island but did not land.
The first extended stay
on the island was during 1927, when
the Norwegian crew of the ship "Norvegia"
stayed for about a month; this is
the basis for the claim by "Norvegia"
expedition leader Lars Christensen
on behalf of Norway, which has named
the island Bouvet Island (Bouvetøya
in Norwegian).[7] The island was claimed
for Norway on December 1, 1927, and
by a Royal Norwegian Decree of January
23, 1928, Bouvetøya became
a Norwegian Territory. The United
Kingdom waived its claim in favor
of Norway the following year. During
1930 a Norwegian act was passed that
made the island a dependent area subject
to the sovereignty of the Kingdom
(but not a part of the Kingdom).
During 1964, an abandoned
lifeboat was discovered on the island,
along with various supplies; however,
the lifeboat's passengers were never
found.
During 1971, Bouvet
Island and the adjacent territorial
waters were designated a nature reserve.
During the 1950s and 1960s, there
was some interest from South Africa
to establish a weather station, but
conditions were deemed to be too hostile.
The island remains uninhabited, although
an automated weather station was established
there during 1977 by the Norwegians.
On September 22, 1979,
a satellite recorded a flash of light
(which was later interpreted as having
been caused by a nuclear bomb explosion
or natural event such as a meteor)
in a stretch of the southern Indian
Ocean between Bouvet Island and Prince
Edward Islands. This flash, since
dubbed the Vela Incident, is still
not completely resolved.
On October 19, 2007,
the Norwegian Polar Institute announced
that satellite photographs no longer
show the research station built on
the island during 1994. Later investigations
indicate that a landslide or ice avalanche
swept the building off its foundations.
A replacement station is being planned
(2009). An unmanned weather station
on the island is reportedly still
intact.[3]
