Scientists Discover Never-Before-Seen Island Off Greenland’s Coast

When it comes to geography in 2021 it seemed like nothing could impress us, not even a tiny Croatian island that looks like massive a fingertip. But shifting pack ice has now revealed an island scientists are calling the "world’s northernmost point of land," reported The Guardian.

“It was not our intention to discover a new island,” polar explorer and head of the Arctic station research facility in Greenland, Morten Rasch, said of the new find to The Guardian. “We just went there to collect samples.”

The news came out just as reports surfaced of an underwater volcano creating a new island off Japan. The new island was in the shape of a C, was approximately half a mile across, and was discovered about 750 miles (1207 km) south of Tokyo near Iwo Jima. If it manages to survive, as many do end up sinking, it could be added to Japan’s territory.

However, when it comes to the Greenland island, it should be noted that scientists initially thought they had arrived at Oodaaq, an island discovered by a Danish survey team in 1978. It was only when checking for its specific location that it dawned on them that they had stumbled on a never-before-seen island that was located 2559 feet (780 meters) to the northwest.

“It’s a bit like explorers in the past, who thought they’d landed in a certain place but actually found a totally different place," Swiss entrepreneur Christiane Leister, creator of the Leister Foundation that financed the expedition, told The Guardian.

Now, scientists are waiting to see whether the piece of land will stay or go. In order to be considered an actual island, it needs to remain above water in high tide. If it does meet this criterion, then it would be undoubtedly classified as the world’s northernmost land. It's nice to see that nature can still surprise us!