Peschel IslandKoldewey, Carl. 2015. ''The German Arctic Expedition 1869/1870: Narrative of the Wreck of the Hansa in the Ice''. Reprint (London, 1874). Bremen: Maritime Press, p. 442. ( no, Pescheløya)Stadnamn i norske polarområde: Pescheløya (Svalbard). /ref> is the third-largest of the
Bastian Islands
The Bastian Islands ( no, Bastianøyane) are a group of islands in Hinlopen Strait, Svalbard. The islands are located southeast of Wilhelm Island
Wilhelm Island ( no, Wilhelmøya) is an island in the Svalbard archipelago. It is situated northeast ...
in the Svalbard archipelago. It lies east of Wilhelm Island and northeast of Spitsbergen.
The island consists of low basalt cliffs that attain an elevation of above sea level in the northern part of the island, in the east, and in the south. The closest neighboring islands are
Lange Island
Lange Island ( no, Langeøya) is the largest of the Bastian Islands in the Svalbard archipelago. It lies east of Wilhelm Island and northeast of Spitsbergen.
The island is essentially a long series of low basalt cliffs measuring from east to w ...
about to the north and Wilhelm Island about to the northwest. The wildlife consists largely of
polar bears
The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...
.
The Bastian Islands were discovered in 1867 by the Swedish-Norwegian polar explorer Nils Fredrik Rønnbeck, who was the first to sail around Spitsbergen. Most of the Bastian Islands were named during the First
German North Polar Expedition
The German North Polar Expeditions were a short series of mid-19th century German expeditions to the Arctic. The aim was to explore the North Pole region and to brand the newly united, Prussian-led German Empire as a great power. In 1866, German ge ...
in 1868, led by Carl Koldewey. This island is named after
Oscar Peschel
Oscar Ferdinand Peschel (17 March 1826, Dresden – 13 August 1875, Leipzig) was a German geographer and anthropologist.
Biography
As the son of an officer and teacher at the local military school, Peschel studied law from 1845 to 1848 in L ...