| • Science | • People | • Locations | • Timeline |
The islands belong to France, and were discovered by Yves Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec in February 1772. The archipelago was exploited for its seal population until their destruction, fur seals in the 18th century and elephant seals in the early 20th century. A number of expeditions have briefly visited the islands, including that of James Cook in 1776.
Kerguelen has been used by a small number of science teams since 1949, with a population of 50-100 always present. There is also a satellite tracking station. The main island is also home to a well-established feral cat population descended from ships' cats. They survive on sea birds and introduced rabbitRabbit usually refers to the European Rabbit Oryctolagus cuniculus a native of southern Europe. It has been widely introduced elsewhere often with devastating effects on local biodiversity. Rabbits in the wild The European Rabbit is a small grey-brown mams.
The main base is located at the eastern end of the Golfe du Morbihan and is known as Port-Aux-Français. Facilities include a bar, gym, hospital, library and the chapel of Notre-dame des Vents.
In the seafaring novel Desolation IslandDesolation Island ( 1978) is a novel by Patrick O'Brian, the fifth in the Aubrey Maturin series. The story charts the voyage of Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin to Australia and the East Indies aboard HMS Leopard. On board are a number of prisoners bound f one of the Aubrey-Maturin seriesThe Aubrey Maturin series is a sequence of 20 historical novels by Patrick O'Brian, set during the Napoleonic Wars and centering on the friendship between Captain Jack Aubrey of the Royal Navy and his ship's surgeon Stephen Maturin, who is also a physicia by Patrick O'BrianPatrick O'Brian ( December 12 1914 January 2 2000; original name Richard Patrick Russ) was a novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey Maturin series of novels set in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars and centered on the friendship of Cap, the crew is shipwrecked on Kerguelen.