Baie de l'Oiseau (Bird Bay) is a natural harbour in the Loranchet Peninsula, in the North-Western part of the island Grande Terre, part of the

Kerguelen Islands The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the subantarctic, sub-Antarctic region. They are among the Extremes on Earth#Remoteness, most i ...

. It was the landing site of the expedition under Yves de Kerguelen in 1772, and later of the expedition under

James Cook Captain (Royal Navy), Captain James Cook (7 November 1728 – 14 February 1779) was a British Royal Navy officer, explorer, and cartographer famous for his three voyages of exploration to the Pacific and Southern Oceans, conducted between 176 ...

in 1776. The site of Port-Christmas is part of the bay.

Geography

The bay is located at the extreme North of the Kerguelen archipelago, and open towards the East, between Cap Français at the North, and the cape of Kerguelen Arch which closes it on the South, and distinguishes it from the neighbouring Baie de la Dauphine. It is 3.8 km long and 2.1 km wide at its largest. The 552-metre Mont Havergal dominates the site and shelters it from the wind. In the 19th century, it was used as a haven for whaling and seal hunting ships.

Discovery

Kerguelen could see the side during his first voyage in February 1772, but could not land, and anchored at the South, in Baie du Lion-Marin, where he claimed the archipelago for France. In his second voyage, in December 1773, he entered the harbour and named in Baie de l'Oiseau, after the frigate ''Oiseau'', under Rosnovet, one of the ships of the expedition. On 6 January 1774, he sent Rochegude ashore to leave a bottle with a message claiming the site for France. On 2 January 1893, Commander Lieutard, of aviso ''Eure'', renewed the claim.

Fauna and flora

The flora is limited to

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

and

lichens A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

in a

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

ecosystem, as well as a cane grass at the mouth of the spillway of Lake Rochegude. There are no trees or bushes, which inspired Cook to call the Islands "Desolation islands" when he visited in 1776. However, his surgeon, William Anderson, had noted the existence of

Pringlea ''Pringlea antiscorbutica'', commonly known as Kerguelen cabbage, is a flowering plant and the sole member of the monotypic genus ''Pringlea'' in the family (biology), family Brassicaceae. Its common name comes from the archipelago of its discove ...

at the Bay, a source of

Vitamin C Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid and ascorbate) is a water-soluble vitamin found in citrus and other fruits, berries and vegetables. It is also a generic prescription medication and in some countries is sold as a non-prescription di ...

of interest at a time when

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...

was a common sanitary problem for sailors. During the

Ross expedition The Ross expedition was a voyage of scientific exploration of the Antarctic in 1839 to 1843, led by James Clark Ross, with two unusually strong warships, HMS Erebus (1826), HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS Terror (1813), HMS ''Terror''. It explored what i ...

of 1840, Doctor McCormick, exploring Mount Havergal, found fossilised tree trunk, proving the existence of forests in a previous geological era. The bay is home to temporary colonies of King Penguins and a variety of other birds, such as

petrel Petrels are tube-nosed seabirds in the phylogenetic order Procellariiformes. Description Petrels are a monophyletic group of marine seabirds, sharing a characteristic of a nostril arrangement that results in the name "tubenoses". Petrels enco ...

s or

albatross Albatrosses, of the biological family Diomedeidae, are large seabirds related to the procellariids, storm petrels, and diving petrels in the order Procellariiformes (the tubenoses). They range widely in the Southern Ocean and the North Paci ...

es, which nest in the cliffs of the bay, as well as colonies of

South American sea lion The South American sea lion (''Otaria flavescens'', formerly ''Otaria byronia''), also called the southern sea lion and the Patagonian sea lion, is a sea lion found on the western and southeastern coasts of South America. It is the Monotypic ta ...

s and

Southern elephant seal The southern elephant seal (''Mirounga leonina'') is one of two species of elephant seals. It is the largest member of the clade Pinnipedia and the order Carnivora, as well as the largest extant marine mammal that is not a cetacean. It gets its ...

. Rabbits were deliberately introduced in 1874, and have since been observed in the cliffs of Port-Christmas.

Southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

s have also been seen near the bay, and on the northwestern shores of the archipelago.

Notes and references

{{Navbox Kerguelen Islands Bays of France Landforms of the Kerguelen Islands