Danish scientist Rene Forsberg has claimed that what was long thought to be the world's northernmost island turned out not to be an island, but an iceberg covered with soil and gravel, according to statements to the DPA agency.
Danish and Swiss scientists discovered the iceberg, which they believed to be an island, north of Greenland last year. Now it has been discovered that there is water underneath it.
Forsberg has pointed out that none of all the supposed islands found since 1978 turned out to be a real island.
In 2022, a Swiss-Danish team named the supposed island -- measuring 30 by 60 meters -- as Qeqertaq Avannarleq, which in Greenlandic means "northernmost island," and which lies about 800 meters from the island of Oodaaq. Oodaaq's status as an island is now also in question.
The follow-up expedition 'Leister Go North' 2022 has in August this year visited positions where small islands have been recorded over the years.
"We wanted to check once and for all if the coordinates were correct and if they were real islands. We found out that they are not," Forsberg told the Danish portal Videnskab.dk.
"No one had ever done that before, as the area is permanently covered by two to three meters of sea ice," the scientist added.