Discovery of Bouvet Island (1739)

In 1739, French explorer Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier sighted Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic during a mission to find a southern continent. The sighting date is recorded as 1 January, though this is a placeholder. Bouvet named a visible cape but misrecorded coordinates, leading to the island's loss until 1808.

Episodes

Background and detail

Expedition Context. Jean-Baptiste Charles Bouvet de Lozier, a lieutenant of the French East India Company, secured funding for a South Atlantic exploration mission. His objective was to locate a presumed large southern continent. He commanded the ships Aigle and Marie for this voyage, which took place in the early 18th century.

Sighting and Naming. On 1 January 1739, Bouvet spotted the island through fog. He named the visible cape Cap de la Circoncision. The island was subsequently named Bouvet Island after him. However, Bouvet mislabelled the coordinates, causing the island to be lost for seven decades until its rediscovery in 1808.

Island Characteristics. Bouvet Island is an uninhabited subantarctic volcanic island in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is situated at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and is considered the world's most remote island. The island is a Norwegian dependency and lies north of 60°S latitude.

People involved

Sources

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