Bouvet Island (Norwegian: Bouvetøya) has an area of 58.5 square kilometres, and more than 90 percent of its surface is covered by glaciers. It has been under the jurisdiction of Norway since 1927. There is not any inhabited place nearby, and it is one of the 10 least visited places in the world.
- In 2020, I took part in a successful scientific expedition to the South Orkney Islands in West Antarctica. Following the successful project, I was now invited to join another 14 member scientific expedition team to the island which belongs to the Norwegian Antarctic Territory, in February and March 2026. During the short Arctic “summer”, my tasks were to study the occurrence of endemic or native fungal species and lichens there, as well as to ensure satellite and shortwave communication- said László Radócz, the only Hungarian participant of the expedition, to hirek.unideb.hu.
Bouvet Island is a protected natural reserve called Protected Marine Area. Entrants to the island must obtain special authority permits (Norsk Polarinstitutt) and keep to strict rules.
- The team members met up in Cape Town, South Africa, which is one of the nearest cities that is still inhabited, at the end of January. The containers of the expedition, packed with the necessary equipment, were loaded there. After the departure on 21 February, our research group took a 6-day cruise, bypassing the dangerous Cape of Good Hope on board the icebreaker ARGUS. We spent 14 days on the uninhabited island, in tents, in rather extreme weather conditions- the associate professor of UD MÉK Institute of Plant Protection said.
The team, consisting mostly of Norwegian, Icelandic, German, Italian, Faroese and Ukrainian researchers, and their equipment were transported by helicopter to an ice-free, high point on the island, where the wind blew almost constantly.
- The island’s coastline is made up of steep cliffs. Landing by boat is very difficult, dangerous, almost impossible. The “weather windows” suitable for flying are very short, usually 1-2 hours a day and often come only after several days. Thus, it took three days to transport the research team and all the equipment to the coast, and again three days to load everything back onto the ship. Perhaps this is why less than 200 people are known to have visited this point on Earth so far, fewer than outer space- László Radócz added.
Following the successful expedition, the researchers began analyzing and conserving the collected samples, as well as processing the data.
Press Centre - ÉE