The Îles Nuageuses (Cloudy Islands in English, named so because of their climate) comprise a group of small islands that are part of the Kerguelenarchipelago, a French territory in the southern Indian Ocean. They are an important breeding spot for seabirds, especially penguins and albatrosses, and for fur seals.
The islands are free of introduced species and are thus covered in dense subantarctic vegetation up to about 200 m. Human visitors are rare.[1]
Geography
The group is located in the northwestern area of the archipelago. It lies about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) north-west, across the Jean-Baptiste Charcot Channel, from the tip of the Loranchet Peninsula, the northernmost extension of Grande Terre, the principal island of the Kerguelens. The islands are of volcanic origin.
The main islands of the Nuageuses are Île de Croÿ, Île du Roland, Île d’Après and the Îles Ternay, with the small Île Clugny some 12 kilometres (7.5 miles) to the south of the others. Far to the north lies the Îlot du Rendez-vous.[2] The highest point in the group is just over 500 m above sea level and the coastlines are mainly sheer cliffs.
There is one lake on the archipelago, Lac Claudine, measuring 400 sq m.
History
The îles Nuageuses were first sighted during Yves Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec's second expedition in 1773. They were so named after the frequently mist-covered tops of their cliffs and were referred to as the Cloudy Isles by James Cook in 1776.[3]
The islands are an important breeding site for gentoo penguins
Îles Nuageuses and location in the Indian Ocean
References
^ abBirdLife International. (2012). Important Bird Areas factsheet: Îles Nuageuses and Île Clugny. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 2012-01-20.