Morrell's Phantom Island Report

Date: March 15, 1823 • Location: Washington, United States

American sailor Benjamin Morrell erroneously reported the existence of New South Greenland, a phantom island, near Antarctica.

Benjamin Morrell was an American sea captain, explorer and trader who made a number of voyages, mainly to the Atlantic, the Southern Ocean and the Pacific Islands. In a ghost-written memoir, A Narrative of Four Voyages, which describes his sea-going life between 1823 and 1832, Morrell included numerous claims of discovery and achievement, many of which have been disputed by geographers and historians, and in some cases have been proven false. He ended his career as a fugitive, having wrecked his ship and misappropriated parts of the salvaged cargo.