[1][2] According to a statement of the International Hydrographic Bureau (February 9, 1957), it "was reported in 1902 by the captain of the French ship the Ernest‑Legouvé.

[5] Interestingly, the character, Cyrus Harding, says with surprise after his fellow colonists and he are rescued, "This island isn't even marked on the maps!"

The reef may also resemble the islet that the castaways first land on, about a half mile off of the coast of Lincoln Island.

The islet "occupied a narrow strip of the sea and, although larger in scale, resembled the body of an enormous whale.

He explains that the real-life man, Ernest Legouvé (1807–1903), "was a friend of Verne's who promised to help satisfy his cherished ambition of joining the Académie française" and so "there may be a hidden connection somewhere" (xxiv).

As Butcher concludes: "Just as the missing day in Around the World emerges in the most surprising places, so the Mystery of the Island is a wide-ranging one.