Mysterious island discovered in Antarctica’s ‘danger zone’ - as big as Giza pyramid

Participants in an Antarctic expedition on the Polarstern have discovered an island (Image: Alfred-Wegener-Institute / Christian Haas)

Explorers travelling through the Antarctic’s Weddell Sea have discovered a mysterious island. While traversing an area marked as a "danger zone", the 93-strong crew of the Polarstern were forced to seek shelter after running into rough weather. Next to Joinville Island, they spotted a mysterious brown landmass, which turned out to be an untouched island.

Simon Dreutter, a specialist in underwater mapping at Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI), said: "On our route, the nautical chart showed an area with unexplored dangers to navigation, but it wasn't clear what it was or where the information came from. I scoured all the coastlines we had here in the bathymetry lab and went back to the bridge.

The Polarstern crew made the discovery near a 'danger zone'. (Image: Getty)

"Looking out of the window, we saw an 'iceberg' that looked kind of dirty. On closer inspection, we realised that it was probably rock.

The Polartern team came within 150 metres of the island and, using a drone, they were able to explore it from above.

They determined it to be 130 metres long, 50 metres wide, and protruding about 16 metres above the water, making it about the same length as the Great Pyramid of Giza.

The experts said satellite images could hardly distinguish the island from the icebergs drifting around it, due to its ice cover.

Before the newly discovered landmass can be added to maps, it must be named, with social media users throwing out their suggestions on X.