For centuries, a piece of land in the middle of nowhere maintained its cartographic presence on all kinds of maps and official books of Mexico. In fact, between the last decade of the 20th century and the first decade of the 21st century, an intense public debate actually erupted, leading to three scientific studies to reveal whether we were dealing with a myth. or a historical fact. This was the story of Isla Bermeja.

First time. Going back in time, we first heard of Bermeja in a Spanish compendium covering all the islands in the world. Date: 1539, but it seems to have baffled sailors, fishermen and politicians ever since. Reason? It was said to have disappeared from the ocean at the beginning of the 21st century. Interestingly for those who always defend this timeline of where the claimed piece of land is located, it all started when Mexico and the United States agreed on maritime borders in the Gulf of Mexico.

Location of Bermeja Island relative to other islands, on a map from 1846

Location. If we go to Google Maps, the Bermeja islet remains visible. According to maps that marked it in the past, it was located more than 100 kilometers from the northwestern tip of the Yucatan Peninsula. To be more precise, cartographic maps showed the settlement at 22 degrees, 33 minutes north latitude and 91 degrees, 22 minutes west longitude.

How long did it take to appear? As we said at the beginning, it all started in the 16th century. With a drawing from Portuguese cartography according to historian and cartographer Michel Antochiw Kolpa. It appears on another map by cartographer and explorer Sebastián Caboto in 1544. The islands of Triángulo, Arenas, Alacranes (the only known islands) and Negrillos, allegedly raided in Antwerp, were also added. In the 18th century, the island continued to appear on maps of cartography schools, but these were photocopies of the Portuguese version.

The first doubts arose at the beginning of the 18th century. The island does not appear on maps of New Spain (1772). In 1805, Ciriaco de Cevallos conducted cartographic surveys in the area but found nothing. “The existence of this island, which appears on all maps, is extremely doubtful: the cartographers of the Spanish crown could not see it,” he thought. It was later shown on official maps or published by the Spanish government in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mexico, though without maritime verification.

The location of Isla Vermeja is described on another map

Dispute with the USA. In the late 1990s, Bill Clinton’s administration began negotiations with Mexico and its president (Ernesto Zedillo) regarding delimitation of the Continental Shelf. We are faced with a very important agreement to mark the maritime border between both countries and Bermeja was Mexico’s winning card as it would create more maritime space in Hoyos de Dona, where large oil deposits are located.

What happened? The island disappeared from official maps. So, in 1997, the Mexican Navy sent an oceanographic ship to verify the existence of the island. However, the admiral in charge of the ship reported that they could not find anything. The inspection was carried out in the area corresponding to the theoretical location of the island and using a search pattern of 322.5 square nautical miles with hydroacoustic scanning. Finally, both countries signed the Treaty in 2000, ceding full control of Hoyos de Dona to the United States.

Theories. The signature, which deprived Mexico of billions of barrels of crude oil and gave up sovereignty over four-fifths of this territory, sparked a national conflict with the island becoming the focus of suspicion. Did it really exist or did it not exist? Of course, it didn’t take long for theories to emerge. From tidal waves to global warming that enlarges and swallows the sea, to the CIA dynamiting this piece of land, and even most spectacularly, to a hydrogen bomb that can take it away.

On a 1914 map, Bermeja’s location relative to other islands in the Bay of Campeche appears as a claim by the United States.

Science to the rescue. The debate dragged on until 2008, when six senators from the then National Action Party (PAN) raised questions about Isla Bermeja, citing suspicions that American forces had deliberately eliminated the island to give the United States greater leverage in negotiations over maritime territory. Four official expeditions were subsequently organized to find Bermeja.

The most famous of them left on March 20, 2009, when the oceanographic ship Justo Sierra, responsible for the National Autonomous University of Mexico, set off towards the coordinates where the island should be. They couldn’t find it and determined that that part of the ocean had a depth of 1,470 meters.

However, they did not rule out the possibility that the island existed in the past; In this case, its extinction could only be explained by a “geological landslide”. The remaining three expeditions achieved the same conclusion and reached the same conclusions: the island does not exist and there are no remains of such a land mass in the area.

Solution. With the data available so far, Mexico’s claimed island heritage is an article of faith for anyone willing to contemplate its existence. No one has ever visited or seen the island, so it was most likely due to a cartographic error that lasted too long. So much so that it was possible to create a story that would continue the legend.

Picture | photoeverywhere, Tanner, Henry S., A. Codazzi, George F. Cram

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