Kerguelen Islands

Before being officially catalogued in 1772, the Kerguelen Islands appear as the "Ile de Nachtegal" on Philippe Buache's 1754 map entitled Carte des Terres Australes comprises entre le Tropique du Capricorne et le Pôle Antarctique où se voyent les nouvelles découvertes faites en 1739 au Sud du Cap de Bonne Esperance ('Map of the Southern Lands contained between the Tropic of Capricorn and the Antarctic Pole, where the new discoveries made in 1739 to the south of the Cape of Good Hope may be seen'). It is possible this early name was after Abel Tasman's ship De Zeeuwsche Nachtegaal. On the Buache map, "Ile de Nachtegal" is located at 43°S, 72°E, about 6° north and 2° east of the accepted location of Grande Terre.

The islands were officially discovered by the French navigator Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec on 12 February 1772. The next day, Charles de Boisguehenneuc landed and claimed the island for the French crown.{{cite web |title=Kerguelen – Yves Trémarec – James Cook – Asia – Hillsborough – Rhodes |first=Dominique |last=Delarue |website=Kerguelen Voyages |url=http://www.kerguelen-voyages.com/c/95/p/b0ef218cd2b18874c9a7d4b61925146f/Kerguelen-yves-tremarec-james-cook-asia-hillsborough-rhodes.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002171809/http://www.kerguelen-voyages.com/c/95/p/b0ef218cd2b18874c9a7d4b61925146f/Kerguelen-yves-tremarec-james-cook-asia-hillsborough-rhodes.html |archive-date=2 October 2013}} Yves de Kerguelen organised a second expedition in 1773 and arrived at the "baie de l'Oiseau" by December 1773. On 6 January 1774 he commanded his lieutenant, Henri Pascal de Rochegude, to leave a message notifying any passers-by of the two passages and of the French claim to the islands.{{cite book |author-link=James Cook |last=Cook |first=James |year=1821 |title=The Three Voyages of Captain James Cook Round the World |volume=5 |pages=146–151 |publisher=Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, et Brown, Londres |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h6UFAAAAMAAJ&q=%22christmas+harbour%22+rochegude&pg=PA149 |via=Google Books}}

Thereafter, a number of expeditions briefly visited the islands, including the third voyage of Captain James Cook in December 1776. Cook verified and confirmed the passage of de Kerguelen by discovering and annotating the message left by the French navigator, calling it Kerguelen Land in his honor.

Soon after its discovery, the archipelago was regularly visited by whalers and sealers (mostly British, American, and Norwegian) who hunted the resident populations of whales and seals to the point of near extinction, including fur seals in the 18th century and elephant seals in the 19th century. The sealing era lasted from 1781 to 1922 during which time 284 sealing visits are recorded, nine of which ended when the vessel was wrecked.{{cite book |editor-last=Headland |editor-first=Robert K. |year=2018 |title=Historical Antarctic Sealing Industry |department=Scott Polar Research Institute |publisher=Cambridge University |isbn=978-0-901021-26-7}}{{rp|page=167}} Modern industrial sealing, associated with whaling stations, occurred intermittently between 1908 and 1956. Since the end of the whaling and sealing era, most of the islands' species have been able to increase their population again.{{cite book |last=Estes |first=James A. |title=Whales, Whaling, and Ocean Ecosystems |year=2006 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=9780520248847 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=daY_utPoJGAC&q=kerguelen+whale+population&pg=PA266 |via=Google Books}} Relics of the sealing period include try pots, hut ruins, graves and inscriptions.{{rp|page=167}}

In 1800, the {{ship||Hillsborough|1783 EIC ship|2}} spent eight months sealing and whaling around the islands. During this time Captain Robert Rhodes, her master, prepared a chart of the islands.{{cite book |last=Clayton |first=Jane M. |year=2014 |title=Ships Employed in the South Sea Whale Fishery from Britain: 1775–1815: An alphabetical list of ships |page=141 |publisher=Berforts Group |isbn=978-1908616524}} That vessel returned to London in April 1801 with 450 tons of sea elephant oil.{{cite book |last=Richards |first=Rhys |year=2017 |title=Bold Captains; Trans-Pacific exploration and trade: 1780–1830 |volume=II |pages=338–339 |publisher=Paremata Press |place=Wellington, NZ |isbn=978-0-473-40519-9}}

In 1825, the British sealer John Nunn and three crew members from Favourite were shipwrecked on Kerguelen until they were rescued in 1827 by Captain Alexander Distant during his hunting campaign.{{cite web |first=Dominique |last=Delarue |title=Kerguelen – Morell – John Nunn – Ross – Ofley – Challenger – Fuller – Eure – Bossière |website=Kerguelen Voyages |url=http://www.kerguelen-voyages.com/consulter/pageperso.asp?IsMenuHaut=1&LangueID=1&PagePersoID=393 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426051440/http://www.kerguelen-voyages.com/consulter/pageperso.asp?IsMenuHaut=1&LangueID=1&PagePersoID=393 |archive-date=26 April 2012}}{{cite book |last=Nunn |first=John |date=1850 |title=Narrative of the Wreck of the Favourite on the Island of Desolation: Detailing the adventures, sufferings and privations of J. Nunn, an historical account of the Island, and its whale and seal fisheries |editor-link=William Barnard Clarke (physician) |editor-first=W.B. |editor-last=Clarke |publisher=William Edward Painter |location=London |page=236 |url=http://catalogue.nla.gov.au/Record/1912126 |access-date=29 November 2014}}

The islands were not completely surveyed until the Ross expedition of 1840.{{cite book |last=Quanchi |first=Max |year=2005 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands |url=https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00quan |url-access=limited |publisher=The Scarecrow Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/historicaldictio00quan/page/n157 87]–88 |isbn=0810853957 }}

The Australian James Kerguelen Robinson (1859–1914) was the first human born south of the Antarctic Convergence, on board the sealing ship Offley in Gulf of Morbihan (Royal Sound then), Kerguelen Island on 11 March 1859.{{cite report |last=Robinson |first=James |year=1906 |chapter=Appendix B: Log of the Offley |title=Reminiscences |pages=98–99 |editor-first=D. |editor-last=Cerchi |publisher=Archives Office of Tasmania |place=Hobart, Tasmania, AU |chapter-url=http://www.cerchi.net/destinations/2002_sioe/sioe_kerguelen.html |archive-date=2012-02-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206155915/http://www.cerchi.net/destinations/2002_sioe/sioe_kerguelen.html}}{{cite book |last1=Ivanov |first1=Lyubomir |last2=Ivanova |first2=Nusha |year=2014 |script-title=bg:Антарктика: Природа, История, Усвояване, Географски Имена, Българско Участие |trans-title=Antarctic: Nature, History, Utilization, Geographic Names, and Bulgarian Participation |edition=first |publisher=Manfred Wörner Foundation |place=Sofia, Bulgaria |language=bg |isbn=978-619-90008-1-6 |via=ResearchGate.net |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/318421288}}

• {{cite book |title=see also: |edition=Second revised and updated |via=biblio.bg |year=2014 |isbn=978-619-90008-2-3 |language=bg |url=http://biblio.bg/%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0/%D0%9D%D1%83%D1%88%D0%B0-%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0/9786199000823-47937 |archive-date=2016-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160210095932/http://biblio.bg/%D0%90%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%BA%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0/%D0%9D%D1%83%D1%88%D0%B0-%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0/9786199000823-47937}}

In 1874–1875, British, German, and U.S. expeditions visited Kerguelen to observe the transit of Venus.{{cite book |last=Mills |first=William James |year=2003 |title=Exploring Polar Frontiers |page=346 |publisher=Bloomsbury Academic |isbn=9781576074220 |via=Google Books |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PYdBH4dOOM4C&pg=PA346}} For the 1874 transit, George Biddell Airy of the U.K. Royal Observatory organised and equipped five expeditions to different parts of the world. Three of these were sent to the Kerguelen Islands and led by Stephen Joseph Perry, who set up his main observation station at Observatory Bay and two auxiliary stations, one at Thumb Peak led by Sommerville Goodridge, and the second at Supply Bay, led by Cyril Corbet. Observatory Bay was also used by the German Antarctic Expedition, led by Erich Dagobert von Drygalski in 1902–1903. In January 2007, an archaeological excavation was carried out at this site.

In 1877 the French started a coal mining operation, but soon abandoned it.{{cite web |first=Paul |last=Carroll |date=29 June 2003 |title=19th Century History of Kerguelen Island, South Indian Ocean |website=Btinternet.com |url=http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_history_19.html |url-status=dead |access-date=30 March 2012 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120730074248/http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_history_19.html |archive-date=30 July 2012}}

In 1892, due to German operations in the area, France sent the aviso Eure, under Commander Lieutard, to reassert its claim over the Kerguelen Islands, the islands of Amsterdam and St. Paul, and the Crozet Archipelago. In 1924, it was decided to administer these territories (in addition to that portion of Antarctica claimed by France and known as Adélie Land) from Madagascar; as with all Antarctic territorial claims, France's possession on the continent is held in abeyance until a new international treaty is ratified that defines each claimant's rights and obligations.

In 1908, the French explorer Raymond Rallier du Baty made a privately funded expedition to the island. His autobiographical account of the adventure (15,000 Miles in a Ketch. Thomas Nelson and Sons: London, 1917) describes the months that he spent surveying the island and hunting seals to finance his expedition.

The German auxiliary cruiser {{ship|German auxiliary cruiser|Atlantis||2}} called at Kerguelen during December 1940. During their stay the crew performed maintenance and replenished their water supplies. This ship's first fatality of the war occurred when a sailor, Bernhard Herrmann, fell while painting the funnel. He is buried in what is sometimes referred to as "the southernmost German war grave" of World War II.

Kerguelen has been continually occupied since 1950 by scientific research teams, with a population of 50 to 100 personnel frequently present. There is also a French satellite tracking station.

Until 1955, the Kerguelen Islands were administratively part of the French Colony of Madagascar and Dependencies. That same year, they collectively became known as {{lang|fr|Les Terres australes et antarctiques françaises}} (French Southern and Antarctic Lands) and were administratively part of the French {{lang|fr|Département d'outre-mer de la Réunion}}. In 2004 they were permanently transformed into their own entity (keeping the same name) but having inherited another group of five very remote tropical islands, Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, which are also ruled by France and are dispersed widely throughout the southern Indian Ocean.{{clarify|date=May 2012}}

File:Yves de Kerguelen.jpg|The islands are named after French explorer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec.

File:Christmas Harbour Kerguelens Land, 1811.jpg|Christmas Harbour, Kerguelens Land, 1811, by the English engraver George Cooke; the location is now known as Port-Christmas

File:NUNN(1850) p182 THE EGG-CART.jpg|Illustration from John Nunn's book about the three years he and his shipwrecked crew survived on the island in the 1820s.

File:Port-Gazelle le 8 janvier 1893 retouched.jpg|French sailors officially reasserting possession of the Islands on 8 January 1893

File:Kerguelen RallierDuBatty.JPG]]

File:Port aux Français.JPG]]

File:Kerguelen - Monts des Deux Frères.jpg

File:Kerguelen CookGlacier.JPG]]

The main island of the archipelago is called {{lang|fr|La Grande Terre}}. It measures {{convert|150|km|abbr=on}} east to west and {{convert|120|km|abbr=on}} north to south.

Port-aux-Français, a scientific base, is along the eastern shore of the Gulf of Morbihan on La Grande Terre. Facilities there include scientific-research buildings, a satellite tracking station, dormitories, a hospital, a library, a gymnasium, a pub, and the chapel of Notre-Dame des Vents.

The highest point is Mont Ross in the Gallieni Massif, which rises along the southern coast of the island and has an elevation of {{convert|1850|m}}. The Cook Ice Cap ({{Langx|fr|Calotte Glaciaire Cook}}),{{cite web |url=http://mapcarta.com/15439580 |title=Calotte Glaciaire Cook |work=Mapcarta |access-date=25 September 2016 }} France's largest glacier with an area of about {{convert|403|km2|abbr=on}}, lies on the west-central part of the island. Overall, the glaciers of the Kerguelen Islands cover just over {{convert|500|km2|abbr=on}}. Grande Terre has also numerous bays, inlets, fjords, and coves, as well as several peninsulas and promontories. The most important ones are listed below:

• Courbet Peninsula
• Rallier du Baty Peninsula
• Péninsule Gallieni
• Péninsule Loranchet
• Péninsule Jeanne d'Arc
• Presqu'île Ronarc'h
• Presqu'île de la Société de Géographie
• Presqu'île Joffre
• Presqu'île du Prince de Galles
• Presqu'île du Gauss
• Presqu'île Bouquet de la Grye
• Presqu'île d'Entrecasteaux
• Presqu'île du Bougainville
• Presqu'île Hoche

There are also a number of notable localities, all on La Grande Terre (see also the main map):

• Anse Betsy (Betsy Cove) is a former geomagnetic station on Baie Accessible (Accessible Bay), on the north coast of the Courbet Peninsula. On this site an astronomical and geomagnetic observatory was erected on 26 October 1874 by a German research expedition led by Georg Gustav Freiherr von Schleinitz. The primary goal of this station was the 1874 observation of the transit of Venus.
• Armor (Base Armor), established in 1983, is located {{convert|40|km|abbr=on}} west of Port-aux-Français at the bottom of Morbihan Gulf, for the acclimatization of salmon to the Kerguelen islands.{{cite book |last=Kauffmann |first=Jean-Paul |title=Voyage to Desolation Island |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wMYPAQAAIAAJ |access-date=18 December 2012 |year=2001 |publisher=Random House |isbn=1860469264 |pages=77–78 }}
• Baie de l'Observatoire (Observatory Bay) is a former geomagnetic observation station, just west of Port-Aux-Français, on the eastern fringe of the Central Plateau, along the northern shore of the Golfe du Morbihan.
• Cabane Port-Raymond is a scientific camp at the head of a fjord cutting into the Courbet Peninsula from the south.
• Cap Ratmanoff is the easternmost point of the Kerguelens.
• La Montjoie is a scientific camp on the south shore of Baie Rocheuse, along the northwestern coast of the archipelago.
• Molloy (Pointe Molloy) is a former observatory {{convert|10|km|mi|0|spell=in}} west of the present-day Port-Aux-Français, on the northern shore of the Golfe du Morbihan (Kerguelen). An American expedition led by G. P. Ryan erected a station at this site on 7 September 1874. That station was also established to observe the 1874 transit of Venus.
• Port Bizet is a seismographic station on the northeastern coast of Île Longue. This also serves as the principal sheep farm for the island's resident flock of Bizet sheep.
• Port Christmas is a former geomagnetic station on Baie de l'Oiseau, in the extreme northwest of the Loranchet Peninsula. It was named by Captain James Cook, who re-discovered the islands and who anchored there on Christmas Day, 1776. This is also the place where Captain Cook coined the name "Desolation Islands" in reference to what he saw as a sterile landscape.
• Port Couvreux, a former whaling station, experimental sheep farm, and geomagnetic station is on Baie du Hillsborough, on the southeast coast of Presqu'île Bouquet de la Grye. Starting in 1912, sheep were raised here to create an economic base for future settlement. However, the attempt failed and the last inhabitants had to be evacuated, and the station abandoned, in 1931. The huts remain, as well as a graveyard with five anonymous graves. These are those of the settlers who were unable to survive in the harsh environment.
• Port Curieuse, a harbor on the west coast across Île de l'Ouest, was named after the ship La Curieuse, which was used by Raymond Rallier du Baty on his second visit to the islands (1913–14).
• Port Douzième (Twelfth Port) is a hut and former geomagnetic station on the southern shore of the Golfe du Morbihan.
• Port Jeanne d'Arc is a former whaling station founded by a Norwegian whaling company in 1908, and a former geomagnetic station, and lies in the northwestern corner of Presqu'île Jeanne d'Arc, looking across the Buenos Aires passage to Île Longue ({{convert|4|km|abbr=on|disp=or|frac=2}} northeast). The derelict settlement consists of four residential buildings with wooden walls and tin roofs, and a barn. One of the buildings was restored in 1977, and another in 2007.

From 1968 to 1981, a site just east of Port-aux-Français was a launching site for sounding rockets, some for French (Dragon rockets), American (Arcas) or French-Soviet (Eridans) surveys, but at the end mainly for a Soviet program (M-100).{{cite web |url=http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/b_tmp_f.htm |title=Bases temporaires |trans-title=Temporary Bases |language=fr |work=univ-perp.fr |access-date=5 January 2019 |first=Jean-Jacques |last=Serra |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170829035737/http://fuseurop.univ-perp.fr/b_tmp_f.htm |archive-date=29 August 2017 |url-status=dead }}

The following is a list of the most important adjacent islands:

• Île Foch in the north of the archipelago, at {{Convert|206|km2|sqmi|frac=2|abbr=on}}, the second most important offlier in the Kerguelens.
• Île Saint-Lanne Gramont, is to the west of Île Foch in the Golfe Choiseul. It has an area of {{Convert|45.8|km2|sqmi|frac=16|abbr=on}}. Its highest point reaches {{Convert|480|m|abbr=on}}.
• Île du Port, also in the north in the Golfe des Baleiniers is the fourth largest satellite island with an area of {{Convert|43|sqkm|abbr=on}}. Near its centre it reaches an elevation of {{Convert|340|m}}.
• Île de l'Ouest (west coast, about {{Convert|33|km2|sqmi|frac=2|abbr=on}})
• Île Longue (southeast, about {{Convert|35|km2|sqmi|frac=2|abbr=on}})
• Îles Nuageuses (northwest, including île de Croÿ, île du Roland, îles Ternay, îles d'Après)
• Île de Castries
• Îles Leygues (north, including île de Castries, île Dauphine)
• Île Violette
• Île Australia (also known as Île aux Rennes – Reindeer Island) (western part of the Golfe du Morbihan, area {{Convert|36.7|km2|sqmi|frac=16|abbr=on}}, elevation {{Convert|145|m|abbr=on}})
• Île Haute (western part of the Golfe du Morbihan, elevation {{Convert|321|m|abbr=on}})
• Île Mayès
• Îles du Prince-de-Monaco (south, in the Audierne bay)
• Îles de Boynes (four small islands {{Convert|30|km|nmi|frac=2|abbr=on|disp=or}} south of Presqu'ile Rallier du Baty on the main island)
• Île Altazin (a small island in the Swains Bay)
• Île Gaby (a small island in the Swains Bay)
• Île de Croÿ (a small island {{Convert|20|km|nmi|frac=2|abbr=on|disp=or}} off the coast of Grande Terre)
• Île du Roland (a small island {{Convert|20|km|nmi|frac=2|abbr=on|disp=or}} off the coast of Grande Terre)

{{No footnotes|section|date=March 2018}}

File:800px-RV Marion Dufresne.jpg

Principal activities on the Kerguelen Islands focus on scientific research, mostly earth sciences and biology.

The former sounding rocket range to the east of Port-aux-Français is currently the site of a SuperDARN radar.

Since 1992, the French Centre National d'Études Spatiales (CNES) has operated a satellite and rocket tracking station, located {{convert|4|km|mi|frac=2|spell=in}} east of Port-aux-Français. CNES needed a tracking station in the Southern Hemisphere, and the French government required that it be located on French territory, rather than in a populated, but foreign, place like Australia or New Zealand.

Agricultural activities were limited until 2007 to raising sheep (about 3,500 Bizet sheep, a breed that is rare in mainland France) on Longue Island for consumption by the occupants of the base, as well as small quantities of vegetables in a greenhouse within the immediate vicinity of the main French base. There are also feral rabbits and sheep that can be hunted, as well as wild birds.

There are also five fishing boats and vessels, owned by fishermen on Réunion Island (a department of France about {{Convert|3500|km|nmi|abbr=on|disp=or}} north) who are licensed to fish within the archipelago's exclusive economic zone.

File:Kerguelen-geo-en.png

File:Kerguelen MontRoss.JPG]]

The Kerguelen Islands form an emerged part of the submerged Kerguelen Plateau, which has a total area nearing {{Convert|949000|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.{{Cite journal |last1=Borissova |first1=Irina |last2=Moore |first2=Aidan M. G. |last3=Sayers |first3=Jacques |last4=Parums |first4=Robert |last5=Coffin |first5=Millard F. |last6=Symonds |first6=Philip A. |year=2002 |title=Geological Framework of the Kerguelen Plateau and Adjacent Ocean Basins |url=http://www.ga.gov.au/metadata-gateway/metadata/record/38753 |journal=Geoscience Australia Record |issue=2002/005 }} The plateau was built by volcanic eruptions associated with the Kerguelen hotspot, and now lies on the Antarctic Plate.Shlich, Roland (Research Manager at the CNRS); [http://t-extreme.ifrance.com/extreme/extreme5/plateau_k.htm article] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071103063254/http://t-extreme.ifrance.com/extreme/extreme5/plateau_k.htm |date=3 November 2007 }}

The major part of the volcanic formations visible on the islands is characteristic of an effusive volcanism, which caused a trap rock formation to start emerging above the level of the ocean 35 million years ago. The accumulation is of a considerable amount; basalt flows, each with a thickness of three to ten metres, stacked on top of each other, sometimes up to a depth of {{Convert|1200|m|fathom}}. This form of volcanism creates a monumental relief shaped as stairs of pyramids.

Other forms of volcanism are present locally, such as the strombolian volcano Mont Ross, and the volcano-plutonic complex on the Rallier du Baty Peninsula. Various veins and extrusions of lava such as trachytes, trachyphonolites, and phonolites are common all over the islands.

No eruptive activity has been recorded in historic times, but some fumaroles are still active in the south-west of Grande-Terre island.

Fossilized wood found in the islands has been identified as Araucarians and Cypresses, showing that the islands were once forested with conifers.{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Wilfred Norman |title=Fossil Coniferous Wood from Kerguelen Island |journal=Annals of Botany |date=1921 |volume=35 |issue=4 |pages=609–617 |doi=10.1093/oxfordjournals.aob.a089780 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/partpdf/319023}} While an exact date for these wood fragments is unknown, they have been tentatively described as being from the early Cenozoic. The presence of these species may suggest that Kerguelen's prehistoric flora may have been similar to the Antarctic flora found across the southern hemisphere.

Glaciation caused the depression and tipping phenomena which created the gulfs at the north and east of the archipelago. Erosion caused by the glacial and fluvial activity carved out the valleys and fjords; erosion also created conglomerate detrital complexes, and the plain of the Courbet Peninsula.

The islands are part of a submerged microcontinent called the Kerguelen Subcontinent.The University of Texas at Austin, Office of Public Affairs, [https://web.archive.org/web/20031014200102/http://www.utexas.edu/opa/news/99newsreleases/nr_199905/nr_continent990528.html UT Austin scientist plays major role in study of underwater "micro-continent"], 28 May 1999. Retrieved 29 June 2007 The microcontinent emerged substantially above sea level for three periods between 100 million years ago and 20 million years ago. The Kerguelen Subcontinent may have had tropical flora and fauna about 50 million years ago. It finally sank 20 million years ago and is now {{Convert|1|to|2|km|fathom|round=50|spell=in}} below sea level. Kerguelen's sedimentary rocks are similar to ones found in Australia and India, indicating they were all once connected. Scientists hope that studying the Kerguelen Subcontinent will help them discover how Australia, India, and Antarctica broke apart.Whitehouse, David; [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/353277.stm "Sci/Tech 'Lost continent' discovered"], BBC News, 27 May 1999. Retrieved 29 June 2007

{{CSS image crop|Image = Kerguelen Islands satfoto.jpg|bSize = 620|cWidth = 280|cHeight = 240|oTop = 120|oLeft = 180|Description = Kerguelen Islands from space, 2016}}

Kerguelen's climate is oceanic, cold, and extremely windswept. Under the Köppen climate classification, Kerguelen's climate is considered to be an ET or tundra climate, which is technically a form of polar climate, as the average temperature in the warmest month is below {{convert|10|C}}.{{cite journal |last1=Peel |first1=Murray C. |last2=Finlayson |first2=Brian L. |last3=McMahon |first3=Thomas A. |year=2007 |title=Updated world map of the Köppen–Geiger climate classification |journal=Hydrology and Earth System Sciences |volume=11 |issue=5 |pages=1633–1644 |doi=10.5194/hess-11-1633-2007 |bibcode=2007HESS...11.1633P |url=http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.html |issn=1027-5606 |doi-access=free }} (direct: [http://www.hydrol-earth-syst-sci.net/11/1633/2007/hess-11-1633-2007.pdf Final Revised Paper]) Comparable climates include the Aleutian Islands, Campbell Island (New Zealand), Iceland, northern Kamchatka Peninsula (Russia), Labrador (Canada), and Wollaston Islands (Chile).

All climate readings come from the Port-aux-Français base, which has one of the more favourable climates in Kerguelen because of its proximity to the coast and its location in a gulf sheltered from the wind.

The average annual temperature is {{convert|4.9|C}} with an annual range of around {{convert|6|C-change|F-change}}. The warmest months of the year include January and February, with average temperatures between {{convert|7.8|and|8.2|C}}. The coldest month of the year is August with an average temperature of {{convert|2.1|C}}. Annual high temperatures rarely surpass {{convert|20|C}}, while temperatures in winter have never been recorded below {{convert|−10|C}} at sea level.

Kerguelen receives frequent precipitation, with snow throughout the year as well as rain. Port-aux-Français receives a modest amount of precipitation ({{convert|708|mm|in|frac=16|abbr=on|disp=or}} per annum) compared to the west coast which receives an estimated three times as much precipitation per year.

The mountains are frequently covered in snow but can thaw very quickly in rain. Over the course of several decades, many permanent glaciers have shown signs of retreat, with some smaller ones having disappeared completely.

The west coast receives almost continuous wind at an average speed of {{convert|35|km/h|kn m/s|abbr=on|0}} because the islands are between the Roaring Forties and the Furious Fifties. Wind speeds of {{convert|150|km/h|kn m/s|abbr=on}} are common and can even reach {{convert|200|km/h|kn m/s|abbr=on}}.

Waves up to {{convert|12|–|15|m|abbr=on}} high are common, but there are many sheltered places where ships can anchor.

{{Meteo France

|Town=Kerguelen

|Sunshine= 1,598.3

|Rain=677.2

|Snow=N/A

|Storm=0.2

|Fog=4.9

}}

{{Weather box

| location = Kerguelen Islands (Port-aux-Français, 1991–2020 averages, extremes 1950–present)

| metric first = yes

| single line = yes

| Jan record high C = 25.8

| Feb record high C = 23.6

| Mar record high C = 22.3

| Apr record high C = 23.1

| May record high C = 16.8

| Jun record high C = 14.5

| Jul record high C = 13.2

| Aug record high C = 15.0

| Sep record high C = 15.8

| Oct record high C = 19.1

| Nov record high C = 19.9

| Dec record high C = 22.1

| year record high C = 25.8

| Jan high C = 12.2

| Feb high C = 12.3

| Mar high C = 11.5

| Apr high C = 9.7

| May high C = 6.9

| Jun high C = 5.6

| Jul high C = 5.0

| Aug high C = 5.2

| Sep high C = 5.9

| Oct high C = 7.4

| Nov high C = 9.0

| Dec high C = 10.9

| year high C = 8.5

| Jan mean C = 8.4

| Feb mean C = 8.6

| Mar mean C = 7.9

| Apr mean C = 6.3

| May mean C = 4.0

| Jun mean C = 2.8

| Jul mean C = 2.2

| Aug mean C = 2.4

| Sep mean C = 2.9

| Oct mean C = 4.1

| Nov mean C = 5.4

| Dec mean C = 7.2

| year mean C = 5.2

| Jan low C = 4.7

| Feb low C = 4.9

| Mar low C = 4.2

| Apr low C = 3.0

| May low C = 1.2

| Jun low C = 0.1

| Jul low C = -0.5

| Aug low C = -0.4

| Sep low C = -0.2

| Oct low C = 0.7

| Nov low C = 1.9

| Dec low C = 3.6

| year low C = 1.9

| Jan record low C = -1.5

| Feb record low C = -1.0

| Mar record low C = -2.2

| Apr record low C = -4.4

| May record low C = -7.2

| Jun record low C = -8.5

| Jul record low C = -8.9

| Aug record low C = -9.5

| Sep record low C = -7.6

| Oct record low C = -5.1

| Nov record low C = -4.4

| Dec record low C = -3.3

| year record low C = -9.5

|precipitation colour = green

| Jan precipitation mm = 52.2

| Feb precipitation mm = 44.4

| Mar precipitation mm = 59.0

| Apr precipitation mm = 64.2

| May precipitation mm = 70.4

| Jun precipitation mm = 69.1

| Jul precipitation mm = 69.4

| Aug precipitation mm = 60.7

| Sep precipitation mm = 56.3

| Oct precipitation mm = 46.1

| Nov precipitation mm = 50.7

| Dec precipitation mm = 51.8

| year precipitation mm = 694.3

|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm

| Jan precipitation days = 7.7

| Feb precipitation days = 7.1

| Mar precipitation days = 9.0

| Apr precipitation days = 9.5

| May precipitation days = 11.8

| Jun precipitation days = 10.5

| Jul precipitation days = 11.9

| Aug precipitation days = 9.5

| Sep precipitation days = 8.9

| Oct precipitation days = 7.9

| Nov precipitation days = 8.2

| Dec precipitation days = 8.9

| year precipitation days = 111.0

| Jan sun = 187.2

| Feb sun = 158.4

| Mar sun = 145.6

| Apr sun = 114.5

| May sun = 95.3

| Jun sun = 74.7

| Jul sun = 85.8

| Aug sun = 106.5

| Sep sun = 128.2

| Oct sun = 153.4

| Nov sun = 166.6

| Dec sun = 182.3

| year sun = 1598.3

| source 1 = Météo France{{cite web

| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20180227002449/https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_98404001.pdf

| archivedate = 27 February 2018

| url = https://donneespubliques.meteofrance.fr/FichesClim/FICHECLIM_98404001.pdf

| title = Kerguelen (984)

| work = Fiche Climatologique: Statistiques 1991–2020 et records

| publisher = Meteo France

| language = French

| accessdate = 26 February 2018}}

}}

{{Main|Flora and fauna of the Kerguelen Islands}}

File:Pringlea antiscorbutica Mayes fake.jpg

The islands are part of the Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra ecoregion that includes several subantarctic islands. Plant life is mainly limited to grasses, mosses, and lichens, although the islands are also known for the indigenous, edible Kerguelen cabbage, a good source of vitamin C to mariners.{{Britannica|315412|Kerguelen cabbage}} The main indigenous animals are insects along with large populations of ocean-going seabirds, seals, and penguins.{{WWF ecoregion |id=an1104 |name=Southern Indian Ocean Islands tundra }}

The wildlife is particularly vulnerable to introduced species; one particular problem has been cats. The main island is the home of a well-established feral cat population, descended from ships' cats.Gaudin, Christian; [http://blogs.senat.fr/iles-subantarctiques/2010/04/06/minou-ce-dangereux-predateur/ Minou, ce dangereux prédateur], Sénat blog, 6 April 2010 They survive on sea birds and the feral rabbits that were introduced to the islands. There are also populations of wild sheep (Ovis orientalis orientalis) and reindeer.

In the 1950s and 1960s, French geologist Edgar Albert de la Rue began to introduce several species of salmonids. Of the seven species introduced, only brook trout {{nowrap|Salvelinus fontinalis}} and brown trout {{nowrap|Salmo trutta}} survived to establish wild populations.{{cite book |last=Newton |first=Chris |title=The Trout's Tale – The Fish That Conquered an Empire |publisher=Medlar Press |location=Ellesmere, Shropshire |year=2013 |isbn=978-1-907110-44-3 |chapter=The Monsters of Kerguelen |pages=161–170 }}

• Carabidae
• Oopterus soledadinus [introduced]
• Weevil{{Cite journal |last1=Baird |first1=Helena P. |last2=Shin |first2=Seunggwan |last3=Oberprieler |first3=Rolf G. |last4=Hullé |first4=Maurice |last5=Vernon |first5=Philippe |last6=Moon |first6=Katherine L. |last7=Adams |first7=Richard H. |last8=McKenna |first8=Duane D. |last9=Chown |first9=Steven L. |date=2021-06-15 |title=Fifty million years of beetle evolution along the Antarctic Polar Front |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=118 |issue=24 |pages=e2017384118 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2017384118 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=8214695 |pmid=34108239}}
• Palirhoeus eatoni [native]
• Hydraenidae
• Meropathus chuni [endemic]

The islands appear in a number of fictional works:

• In The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket, Edgar Allan Poe's only complete novel, the crew of the Jane Guy alights at Kerguelen Island before eventually pushing on towards the South Pole.{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Raja |title=Ready Reference Treatise: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket |date=2016 |publisher=Lulu Press |isbn=9781329804036 |page=41 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RRdnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT41 }}
• French writer Jules Verne's 1897 novel Le Sphinx des glaces (An Antarctic Mystery) offers a follow-up to Poe's book, and revisits the Kerguelen Islands, with the first chapter being entitled "Les Îles Kerguelen."{{Cite book |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10339 |title=An Antarctic Mystery |first=Jules |last=Verne |language=en-US }}
• The 1874 short story "The Tachypomp" by Edward Page Mitchell tells of a hole through the center of the Earth with one end in the United States and the other in "Kerguellen's Land". In fact the islands' antipodal point, {{Coord|49|15|N|110|50|W}}, falls near Pakowki Lake, Alberta.{{cite book |title=Isaac Asimov Presents the Best Science Fiction of the 19th Century |date=1981 |publisher=Beaufort Books |isbn=9780825300387 |editor1-last=Waugh |editor1-first=Charles |page=113 |editor2-last=Asimov |editor2-first=Isaac |editor3-last=Greenberg |editor3-first=Martin Harry}}
• Author G A Henty's 1886 novel A Chapter of Adventures, beginning on page 80, tells of a shipwrecked mariner's survival adventure on "Kerguelen Island."
• Henry De Vere Stacpoole set his 1919 novel The Beach of Dreams on the islands.{{cite book |last1=Stilgoe |first1=John R. |title=Lifeboat |date=2003|publisher=University of Virginia Press |isbn=9780813922218 |page=36 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KvB6NPbSByAC&pg=PA36 }}
• The islands inspired the 2008 song "The Loneliest Place on the Map" by singer Al Stewart.{{cite news |last1=Barnard |first1=Jason |last2=Stewart |first2=Al |title=Al Stewart – Past, Present and Future |url=http://thestrangebrew.co.uk/articles/al-stewart-past-present-and-future |access-date=12 April 2016 |work=The Strange Brew |year=2016 }}
• In the seafaring novel Desolation Island, one of the Aubrey–Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian, the crew repair their disabled ship on an island that strongly resembles Kerguelen, although a later book in the series asserts that it this was a different Desolation Island, located somewhere "further south and east," (probably Heard Island, though this island wasn't confirmed to exist until the 1850s.)
• In Biggles' Second Case by W. E. Johns, Biggles searches for Nazi gold just after World War II on and around Kerguelen.
• Warbots (no. 5) Operation High Dragon involves a secret Chinese military base located on Kerguelen Island. ISBN 1-55817-159-2
• In Gundam - The 08th MS Team, the Zeon spacecraft which attempts to evacuate Ginias Sakhalin's forces from their base is named Kerguelen.
• In the Danish graphic novel Mikkeline på skattejagt (Mikkeline's Treasure Hunt) by draftsman and cartoonist Claus Deleuran, Desolation Island plays a major role in the plot. In the humorous story the active volcano Mont Ross serves as a back entrance to hell as described in The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. ISBN 87-7378-244-0
• The novel The Lost Flying Boat by Alan Sillitoe is situated around Kerguelen, though the islands' geography is not accurately described.
• The Swedish comic James Hund by Jonas Darnell & Patrik Norrmann has set at least one episode on Kerguelen, where a satanic Nazi conspiracy against the world's leaders has its seat.
• In Patrick Robinson's Kilo Class (ISBN 0-06-109685-7), naval confrontations arise in the Kerguelen Islands between the Americans, the Chinese, and the Taiwanese.
• In the novel An Inexplicable Story by Josef Skvorecky, the chapter "A Letter from Herr Rudolf Ceeh" is a report by a German submariner about his stay on the Kerguelen Islands.
• The science fiction novel "Rocannon's World" by Ursula Le Guin mentions a planet called "New South Georgia", whose chief city is "Kerguelen".
• The album named Kerguelen Vortex by Aural Vampire has been inspired by these islands.

{{Portal|Geography|France}}

• Administrative divisions of France
• List of Antarctic and subantarctic islands
• List of French overseas islands
• Overseas France
• Toponymy of the Kerguelen Islands

{{reflist}}

{{Commons category|Kerguelen Islands}}

{{Wikivoyage|Kerguelen}}

{{Wikibooks|Geography of France|Réunion, Mayotte, and the French Southern and Antarctic Lands#Kerguelen Islands|Kerguelen Islands}}

• {{Official website|http://www.outre-mer.gouv.fr/taaf-0}} {{in lang|fr}}
• {{Official website|www.taaf.fr/}} {{in lang|fr}}
• {{Cite web |url = http://membres.lycos.fr/ker18/Carto/frameIgn.html |title = Cartography of the Kerguelen |access-date=2 April 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20030413030523/http://membres.lycos.fr/ker18/Carto/frameIgn.html |archive-date=13 April 2003 }} Including a toponymy index.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20160109225450/http://kerguelen-island.org/ Personal site with many pictures]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20031031091919/http://astronautix.com/sites/keruelen.htm Rocket launches on the Kerguelen Islands]
• {{cite web |url = http://www.btinternet.com/~sa_sa/kerguelen/kerguelen_islands.html |title = South Atlantic & Subantarctic Islands site, Kerguelen Archipelago page |archive-url = https://archive.today/20121129220657/http://www.bt.com/sorrypages/sorry/platform/btinternet.html |archive-date=29 November 2012 |url-status=dead }}

{{Navbox Kerguelen Islands}}

{{Districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands}}

{{French overseas departments and territories}}

{{Important Bird Areas of French Southern Territories}}

{{Outlying territories of European countries}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Antarctic ecoregions

Category:Archipelagoes of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands

Category:Archipelagoes of the Indian Ocean

Category:French Southern and Antarctic Lands

Category:Lists of coordinates

Category:Seal hunting

Category:Subantarctic islands

Category:Tundra

Category:Volcanic islands

Category:Volcanoes of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands