Mysterious prehistoric stone statue forest in France

The "loneliest" island in the world

According to Unilad, Bouvet Island is located in the middle of the sea between Argentina, South Africa and Antarctica. The island has been claimed by Norway. The country considers it a protected nature reserve, is uninhabited and remains deserted, almost completely covered in snow and ice. So it cannot be a tourist destination, even for adventurous people.

Bouvet was first discovered by French army commander Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier in 1739. The name of the island is also named after this general.

Bouvet Island is the most remote island on Earth.

However, Mr. Bouvet did not accurately locate the island, but deviated 8 degrees to the East. He is said to have not gone all the way around the island so he did not know whether it was an island or part of a continent.

In 1772, Captain James Cook set out from South Africa to find the island according to the coordinates marked by Mr. Bouvet, which are coordinates 54°S, 11°E. He found nothing and thought Bouvet had mistaken an ice peak for an island, so he abandoned the search.

It was not until 1808 that British whaler James Lindsay found it again. He was the first person to accurately mark the island's location.

The closest settlement to Bouvet is the island of Tristan da Cunha. But this place is also extremely sparsely populated, with only 271 people. Meanwhile, the distance from Bouvet to Tristan da Cunha is more than 2,200km. That's why people also call Bouvet the "loneliest island" in the world.

The "ghost" boat

After Bouvet was officially on the map, another trip was made in 1964 by researcher Allan Crawford and a team of scientists. The group sets out on the Royal Navy's Antarctic ice ship HMS Protector to investigate the volcanic island following a lava eruption that occurred 10 years ago.

They used a helicopter to move from the ship to the mainland on the island, but suddenly, researcher Allan Crawford discovered a lifeboat lying alone in a lagoon.

It's unclear how long the canoe had been there and there were no signs of where it came from or who owned it. There was no engine, nor sails. However, Crawford also found the oar on the beach along with a bronze barrel and another wooden barrel.

Inspection of the island found no traces of human life, although the position of the canoe suggested that anyone sitting on it could have easily reached Bouvet Island.

A few years later, the mystery became even more strange when another expedition came to the island and the canoe... disappeared without a trace. Assuming someone has moved it to another place, it will not be easy to salvage it and take it away. It's also possible that it sank, but no one can be sure without knowing the depth of that lagoon.

Decades have passed, the presence of the canoe on that uninhabited island remains a mystery. No missing ship has been reported that could help explain the lifeboat.

The presence of the canoe on that uninhabited island is still a mystery.

In fact, the natural conditions on Bouvet Island are very harsh. Everywhere is covered with ice and snow and there are active volcanoes.

Only moss and lichen are the two main plant species. Meanwhile, seals, seagulls and penguins are the only residents on the island, completely devoid of humans.

It is not easy to approach Bouvet when it is surrounded by giant icebergs. To get here most easily, one can only use a helicopter.

Difficult terrain, remote location combined with harsh soil conditions, this place rarely welcomes visitors, but is only used for research purposes.

So it is even more difficult for people to find the answer to the appearance and disappearance of the canoe. However, one Reddit user was determined to get to the bottom of the situation. This person offers a possible explanation.

In a post shared online, this Reddit user said he had consulted documents and information on page 129 of the book of the Institute of Oceanography and gathered information that a scientific reconnaissance ship had named Slava-9 began its voyage with the "Slava" whaling fleet in the Antarctic on October 22, 1958, just a few years later, Crawford discovered the canoe.

A group of sailors is said to have landed on Bouvet Island, but became stranded there due to deteriorating weather conditions.

The book describes how people stayed on the island for about 3 days before being rescued by helicopter. That could be why a boat was left behind.

However, it seems we will never know for sure whether this was the real reason the boat appeared on the island. It's even harder to know how it disappeared. This is probably a question that will require a lot of time and effort from scientists.