The Kerguelen Islands, also known as the Desolation Islands, are to be found in the southern Indian Ocean and form part of the otherwise submerged Kerguelen Plateau. One of the most isolated places on Earth, they are a bleak and windswept haven for a few scientists and a hoard of penguins.The islands were discovered by the Breton explorer and French naval officer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen de Trémarec, who in 1772 sailed to the Antarctic in search of the fabled Terra Australis. Instead, he discovered the Desolation Islands and took possession of them for France.The Desolation Islands are the remnant of a long-lost continent that was once about a third the size of Australia. From roughly 100 million years ago until 20 million years ago, most of the now largely submerged Kerguelen Plateau was above sea level.
