Kerguelen: Living on One of the World’s Most Isolated Islands
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- Опубліковано 29 чер 2021
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Writing by Christine Benedetti
Editing by Alexander Williard
Audio by Graham Haerther
Motion graphics by Josh Sherrington and Maddy
Thumbnail design by Simon Buckmaster
Project management by Gina Giorgi
Select footage courtesy the AP Archive and Getty Images
Kergeulen Island is also the location of the "southernmost graveyard" of the Second World War. A German warship stopped at Kergeulen to resupply and do routine maintenance work. While painting a German sailor fell from the sport his painting and died. He was buried on the island, making the place the "southernmost graveyard" of World War II.
That German warship was the armed merchant raider Atlantis.
@@sadams12345678 What was there to get supplies from?
Dankie Tobia. Wie heissen die name aus die soldaten? What was the name of the soldier?
@@davidvanniekerk356 That, I don't know
@@dugroz cabbage? 🤷♂️
Honestly them finding a bottle with a letter is some crazy miracle. One bottle that could have been long hidden by grass, blown by wind or whatever, on a pretty sizable island.
If it weren't for Cook finding that one message, there probably would have been a very large conflict over some a very small land.
@@vigilantcosmicpenguin8721 I doubt there would be a large conflict, maybe some minor skirmishes similar to those of the British East India Company's over St Helena.
Probably there was a natural harbour on the coast and the French expedition put some kind of mark at the site where they left the bottle.
That's already quite a lot of circumstance considering how many islands there are in the archipelago and the sheer size of it all. It looks small on the world map but even if there was a 20 foot pole flying a French flag it would be unlikely to be noticed, let alone a single, lonesome bottle.
@@blafoon93 Cook probably circumnavigated the main island
Not really, the bottle wasn't hidden. It would have been left in the place most likely to be seen and with markers.
There has been a mistake in the french to english translation at 11:30. He isn't saying winds have been superior or equal to 39 (to which the translator added kph), but 30 knots, so around 55kph.
It's a pretty large difference.
Edit: it's obvious to me now how mean my comment might sound, I made it so in order to gain traction and attention from the people behind this video, but know that you have all my respect and thankfulness for bringing us this kind of amazing content.
"30 noeuds" et non "39" :D
I was about to make that comment
He also calls the UK/Britain as England and British as English
@@memofromessex Please forgive the french. We are a sophisticated people, but how kinda split but also very unified but still actually split the UK is isn't common knowledge in France
Another error: typo at 10:32. It’s “two” not “tow.” These errors should have been corrected before making the video public.
I live in Longyearbyen, Svalbard, and now I feel like I live in a megalopolis (with a whooping 2100 inhabitants) compared to Kerguelen
I once passed Kerguelen Island on a ship, if you sail a great circle route from South Africa to Australia, I think we went straight to Melbourne, you go south into the roaring forties and pass to the north of the island. I always thought it was uninhabited!
I absolutely love this series! Videos about Tristan da Cunha and those rarely-visited high-Arctic Russian islands would be neat as well. I’ve always wanted to travel there!
Alert would be an interesting subject, as the most northerly permanent settlement in the world.
@@JamesPhieffer yeah, or those scattered pacific and indian ocean islands aswell
He did a seriese about Tristan da Cunha on the Extremities podcast.
Me too!
If france sell this island to china its very dangerous due china plan to rule the world and all species will be lost in the area and they are also treat the antartic and sorounding island. Be careful and study first before making a dangerous decession. China is treat of the whole world. China wants to rule the world!!!.
The only leaving in groups of three thing seemed weird until I realized it takes two people to haul one back. Smart and probably tested.
At my boarding school some 60 years ago, they had this rule of three. One can stay with the injured whilst the other goes for help. Makes a lot of sense.
There is also an early warning system for missiles on the Kerguelen. That's also why there is military personnal.
What is the purpose of this early warning system? Warning peguins?
@@polka23dot70 It warns against incoming missiles.
satellite tracking station for the ESA Galileo GPS system
@@polka23dot70 Because submarine based nukes could be launched from anywhere in the world.
According to Wikipedia, there are no military activities on the Kerguelen Islands: 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 4 km east of Port-aux-Français.
I am French and this is the most detailed and fascinating video I've seen on these islands.
Thank you sir! Love this new channel.
cest bien vrai
I love this series SO much.
Me too
Me too
Same.
yes same
Ditto!
Imagine talking 20 min about Kerguelen without mentioning the French-USSR join space program... the most surprising thing about this place I think.
Can you explain the connection or provide any links to more information? Not finding much on a cursory search.
@@MrKelsomatic just go on the wiki ... The CNES launched several rocket/probes (Dragons) to study the atmosphere, and since the island is on the same magnetic line as the Arkhangelsk Oblast in USSR, they decided to launched more rockets to study the magnetosphere and to trigger aurora borealis on the other side of the Earth. At the end, more than 100 French and Soviet rockets were launched.
@@jigaraphale Wait you can actually trigger the aurora borealis like that?
Wow, you would've expected him to notice something like a French-USSR joint space program.
@@Marquis-Sade very small and localised ones, but yes
I can't explain why but even though this show is exceptionally enjoyable, I enjoy video's about logistics more now. I blame the wendover guy
He's only half as interesting as this guy
@@xp8969 nice
I feel like the wendover guy and the hai guy teamed up to make this
I agree strongly
Fuck that, they’re alright but this is WAY better
Now, this is a real extremity. I've been loving the new format, but I kind of wish we could get a full podcast season of Kerguelen. It reminds me of Pitcairn; there must be so much more to learn about that this twenty-minute video can cover.
Kerguelen reminds me alot of the Falklands, which I had the pleasure of visiting for 8 weeks in 2013. Island life is great and I recommend it to anyone.
Falklands is an amazing place
As a French person in the US, the way he talked about food and meals made me homesick for islands despite the fact they are further away from mainland France than the US lol
Pareil pour moi !
You could try to take a trip to Saint Pierre and Miquelon or Saint Martin lol
Sam, this is exceptionally well done. You set the standard for what a mini documentary should be. It’s amazing how much information you’ve included in such a short video and still have it watchable.
I've wanted to visit there ever since I saw it on Google Earth in 2006!
I'm more of a Tristan da Cunha guy myself, but I get you
@@d.s.8227 Slightly more feasible, but still difficult as hell.
I first saw it on a globe when i was in kindergarten in 2000. I knew it was a research station and always wanted to go. $21,000 is a lot though
I'm more of a fan of Ile Amsterdam, I like forested places and holocene volcanism. All of the subantarctic islands are pretty dramatic though.
@@awsomo53 they don't want people visiting because we don't live on a globe and the more people visit the sooner they will find out.
I know the difference in climate between Kerguelen and places in the world with mid-latitude temperate zones is due to having completely different ocean currents and wind patterns as well as no nearby continents, but I still find it astonishing that treeless, tundra-seeming Port-aux-Français is only at the equivalent southern latitude to Vancouver in the northern hemisphere and is closer to the equator than is London, England.
*...most isolated islands...*
Introverts : I've finally found the birthlands of my people.
Argentinians
INTP guy regreet you! :)
INFJ here I was just thinking how do I move there until I heard you have to go out in groups of 3 😂 I think Tristan De Cunha seems more appealing.
Those are the places we could call home
Great idea for the new channel! Quality content, great coverage of the contextual issues, and the interviews giving us the perspective of the locals in these fascinating places really take it to the next level!
Thank you for this! I've been curious about Kerguelen ever since I learned it is the land that lies closest to the antipode of where I once lived: Rice Lake, Wisconsin, USA. (An antipode, or antipodal point, is the point on the planet located diametrically opposite to a specific geographic location, & therefore, is the farthest point in the world from that location.)
And Kerguelen Island is actually antipodal to land: "an area of thinly inhabited plains on the border between the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan and the US state of Montana en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes#Cities_and_geographic_features
No such thing as an antipod because the earth is a flat plane.
hi, just letting you know that there are currently no captions on this video as the auto-generated ones are only for french! Please add some subtitles so that people who need them can also enjoy this video :)
If you dug a hole straight down from the Kerguelen Islands, you'd come out at Prince Albert, Saskatchewan!
But with grubby clothes and a worn out shovel!
@@richardboote2370 And exhausted.
@@willi19391 And burned to a crisp!
But then you would have to deal with Canadian Customs and Immigration.
I absolutely love this channel. Have listened to all Extremities podcasts on Spotify previously, which where super interesting and to see the channel starting on UA-cam as well is great! Keep up the great work!
How people live in extreme, remote places like this has always nagged at the back of my mind. Super neat to have well organized videos about them! Kerguelen has got to be one of the better topics for this, such an unknown and dramatic land, almost like Antarctica's Antarctica.
Sounds like heaven
I *love* finding out about isolated places like this! Tristan da Cunha and Bouvet Island also interest me.
I actually been to kerguelen. The islands are lovely in spring.
Lucky for you. Thank you for sharing. I am sure you did well and do the station proud. Stay safe & prosper regards ZA 🇿🇦
Extremely well done series. I'm hooked :) I'm fascinated by remote locations.
Same, they're so interesting for some reason.
I was so excited, but then I realised that I watched this on Nebula already xd.
Fascinating. Great job.
Excellent episode! Informative and very interesting. Thank you.
South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands 🇬🇸
Terrific doco- the almighty YT algorhythm led me here. I've spent time on Reunion, of course it is the logistic base for Kerguelen. The island reminds me of Macquarie Island, another sub-Antarctic island, but this one is in the remit of Australia, with my home town of Hobart the admin support base ( =and the HQ of the Australian Antarctic Division). Might I suggest Macquarie as a subject for a future doco. Great work interviewing the staff too! Thankyou thankyou!
Randomly found the island while bored at work. That video really does it justice, great job.
11:35 just a quick correction, he didn't say "trente-neuf" (39) but "trente nœuds)" (30 knots) : that's 55.5 km/h or 34.5 mph.
Edit: got beaten to it. Just want to clarify I love the episode, amazing work.
I just discovered this show (and thus "Extremities") tonight. This, to me, is absolutely gripping and fascinating, as much as any show or movie I watch in "regular" media. Keep it up! I just subscribed and will be watching ALL these shows. (And now, BTW, I'm going to do a search on Crozet Islands, and St. Paul & Amsterdam Islands . . . I'm a geology nut, but I haven't heard of any of these before tonight!)
The McDonald Islands are/were just south of Kerguelen and they recently doubled in size following a number of volcanic eruptions. The islands were joined together, so now there is only a single McDonald Island. Owned by Australian rather than France, but very geologically interesting.
Greetings to you, Sam!
I really like the genre of this channel. (I am subbed to both of your other channels btw). Remote places has always fascinated me. With this comment, I would just like to point you in the direction on Jan Mayen (seeing as I am Norwegian, and all). But I do think you might find it quite interesting. No tourism possible I'm afraid. But the fact that it is serviced ~twice per year by military cargo planes, says quite alot about how remote it actually is.
This sounds like an amazing place to do research at a French island territory until you remember that the other option was to visit Bora Bora.
This place has fascinated me my whole life and I dream of visiting/working there.
This seems to be a fun place, I hope I can visit sometime in the future. Seeing and sharing places like this is why I love traveling and make videos so much!
Thank you for this. This island(s) have captivated me for decades.
Will admit to never ever heard about such a place before!
Thank you for extended my knowledge with an excellent video.
Great channel man
Can't wait for the next video, I've been a wendover sub for ages and just found extremities. Tristan de Cunha coming up soon I suppose?
Extraordinarily interesting! Thank you.
This series is amazing
Kerguelen Island is where Markus Blackmore, in the story, "Manner of the Sundog", had been given land to establish his equestrian ranch. However, he never got the chance to retire to this beautiful island before his untimely misfortune. Though I believe his brother Jet, a Veterinarian, inherited the Blackmore estate, and menagerie of prized horses. How I would love to live such a life!
A bit strange seeing Louis XV as a medieval (and thin) king.
Also at 11:35 the wind speed indicated is 30 nods which is 55km/h or 34 mph :)
Knots, not nods.
@@mirzaahmed6589 Good enough for an ESL
It's not mentioned in the video but the seas around the Kerguelen Islands are some of the roughest in the world. The largest ever wave was recorded here, over 100 feet high.
Very cool video, I’ve been waiting for you to find this place and make a video about it. 😉
Would love if you'd do a similar video of Pitcairn and the Falkland Islands!
The peace and quiet, sky at night, and the air there must be orgasmic.
Amsterdam Island and Saint-Paul Islands also have great brilliant French minds working there.
Hey, I have an Idea:
What if you do a collaboration between you and this wendover Guy and this half as interesting Guy? You could even start a streaming service together!
They even have the same voice so no need to send recordings around
@@RedHair651 are they not the same guy?
@@Daisy-sh8vd r/whoosh
Well you got your wish, shockingly.
They did on the Half as Interesting video, ‘Every mistake we’ve ever made IV’
These guys seem so sweet and genuinely happy
The guy at the beginning seems a bit infatuated with his smirk.
Wow! Fascinating! Tres magnifique!
This is one amazing video. I would love to see more of great contents like this. Keep them coming
Brilliant video 📹
Thank you I've never heard of this place before. It's like a French Falkland islands with no neighbors.
I never thought about that lol, maybe it's more like France's South Georgia
I would love to visit this place
Great video, very educational. Greetings from the tropical paradise island 🏝of Kauai, Hawaii ! Thank you for sharing
I’ve been looking forwards to this very much. Thank you Sam.
The introduced salmon, trout, sheep and the native cabbage sound like the basis of a great diet and the hunting and fishing involved would be the basis of a great outdoor life.
Liked and subscribed! See ya on Nebula!
So cool thanks
I have really enjoyed this video.
I have always wanted to see a documentary about living on the Keguelen Islands
Awesome video.
Signed up! Thank you for everything!
just watching this for escapism. my country's and world's situation and future are terrifying to bear, so watching places almost isolated from the world gives me a slim hair of hope and a brief moment to disconnect from reality...
if WW3 starts I am going there no matter what
This island is in my dream bucket list! Such as exotic place with unusual cabbage and few cats nearby the base!
Would be amazing travel to Kergulen islands.
Another extremities I would love to see is Pitcairn islands or Tristan da Cunha island
Funny that this has popped up recently, since I will be traveling to Wake Island in a few weeks.
I really like this new channel of yours. Hope it does well!
Great video, there is a small spelling mistake at 3:51 : Christophe Guinet works for CNRS and not CRNS ;)
Love this dudes KEK key.
It's KER. Since he's basically the mayor that's why his office has the keys to the city and the official portrait of the president.
Great stuff and I know the feeling living in one of worlds most isolated islands. 😉
So good videos.
The last year I feel like being on an island, yet located in central Europe. Basically just my flat and my workplace. To be fair, not one full year, but at least 9 months. I am kind of surprised how well I cope with this. Socially isolated, but I have been my whole life. I used to be sad, but not anymore. I just live a day-to-day life, with an innocent smile of a fool on my face... Alone. Lonely. Helpless. Not complaining. Taking it as it is. I bet I would be an anti-social weirdo even on that isolated island. Somebody who does his job, but outside it, remains invisible. Non-existent.
I think I understand what you say. Always wanted to be less socially awkward, but at some point you have to accept that it is just who you are!
Your not weird, most people Fxckin suck and most people are burning in Hell but yeah I understand and I feel for you I really do
I feel really sad for you. I don't know why you have these issues, but this is really bad for your mental health. I used to be just like you, but right now I've massively improved by life and talk way more to people! Idk whether this is because of your social awkwardness or anxiety, or maybe because there was a covid pandemic but even today there aren't really a lot of places to meet people, or because the place you live in is generally not that sociable to make it easy to make friends. But I'll still tru to help! If you have social anxiety, you should probably talk to a psychologist that could help you overcome these issues. If you don't know where to meet people, start doing some activities and hobbies and go to events to meet new people. If your entire environment isn't really friendly to making friends, you should really try going to a new country to see whether you'll prefer this culture! But you should try to do something with that because otherwise, you could really be depressed and sad!
@@gamermapper Do not feel sad for me. It is a waste of time and I do not want it (nor do I deserve it). Please enjoy life. I managed to convince myself that the reason for me being in this "limbo" state is for others to appreciate their luck. I know this is a stupid lie. But do not think I am depressed. Nope, I am not. I take pills, already for many years. I do not feel like being punished or mistreated or being treated unfair. I found a way to cope, even though I know and realize it just a lie that I tell to myself. I can only hope for dementia to kick in before existential crisis, haha. Do not take anything I write too seriously. I have also "bright sides" sometimes. When I see that a tiny bit of effort from my side made some other people smile and remember of their childhood or early adulthood. I cherish those little joys I am a tiny insignificant part of, that I see in faces of some random people. I am genuinely fine, relaxed, not anxious or depressed. Or so I think. As long as it works there is no need to change it. Right? Best wishes to all good people on this pale blue dot we call Earth. I will be satisfied and happy, if you are at least half as satisfied and happy than I am. Really no need to feel bad for me. I am just the most lucky "bastard" on this planet, nor realizing it fully. But I am working on it. Slowly. Better not rush it, I want it to last.
there is one island a bit like this, Heard island, the nearest land mass, just to the south. Although theres no permanent settlement it is an extremely remote unspoilt island, used only for research purposes. Its an Australian overseas territory
Yup, and there is also the Prince Edward Islands to the west owned by South Africa
I read a book by a French priest who visited the island he said it was very windy most of the time and it was a miserable place to live for the scientists who manned the base, he said that most of the scientists at that time we're not on speaking terms with one another and couldn't wait to be relieved of their stint there.
Great vídeos! We need more episodes! Should make one abou St peter St paul’s islands. One of the most bizzar settelments in the entire world
Depending on how far away the outposts are from the main town it might just be possible to hook them all together a little better with some wireless mesh networking. Should that be needed or desirable, of course. I wonder if they've got a greenhouse there to help supplement their food supplies as well?
Any plans for an episode on Wrangel Island? Spent most of my childhood there (late 80s) and I know it's not the same anymore (not so much science, more of an army base now) but still curious about what it's really like there these days. Maybe my dad could even help with some contacts, but it's hard to promise.
I'm (obviously) not Sam but I second this, I would really like to see an episode on Russian Arctic islands
Wonderful . I had never heard of them but do know of Reunion. Very good of Captain Cook to give credit to Kerguelen and the French for first discovery. I hope we can keep most people away from all these isolated places and humans always spoil them. Ah to be alone..... so hard to achieve
When I'm older I actually plan on working at port aux francais as a pastry chef, still have a while to go though.
This video(I think I saw it on the main channel first) is one of like, five sources I could find
Would love to see it some day. It is a dream of mine to work on Macquarie Island, a similar environment.
Wide aspect ratio. Are we making movies now?
Next he'll release a Snyder cut if you're not careful
Great story, even by your standards. Fascinating.
Not sure I understand this aspect ratio, that sacrifices almost 50% of a common laptop screen, which I'm guessing is the most common non handheld device accessing yt.
Most people watch on their phone which these days is usually a longer and skinnier ratio than the standard 16:9 you are used to on a laptop. If more viewers watch on their phone it makes sense to use a ratio better suited for that
@@aktazf1192 yes indeed however, when watching from a handheld device you generally are already accepting a compromise, also many devices let one zoom the content enough to fill the available view area. When viewing from a large device you expect a high quality and it is silly, in my view, to force both segments to a lower user experience.
My dream from early childhood is to visit this island. I know it’s impossible mission for common people but if I have such opportunity I will learn Franch and be a science.
honestly i really like your logos
Thank you for this video. I really do enjoy this series. That I just discovered. I see I am not alone. You have 147K subscribers. Including myself. May I suggest a video about the island of South Georgia. Which is also in the southern sea. Perhaps find out that The British Antartic Survey had been doing recently.
So if I already paid for a year of curiosity stream do I get access to nebula as well now?
Captain James Cook visited the island during one of his voyages, mainly for fresh water. He described it as the most desolate place on earth that he had seen. A Frenchman who described it as prime real estate "A second France". When the news came back, how terrible it was, he was dismissed.
Yea and A but more north One of the other smaller French souther arctic islands apparently was visited by one of the Magellan boats
1:30 Dude has a KEK key on his wall.
This channel is so pog
Hey man.
Can you do some on these Philippine remote gems?
Cagayancillo Island, Palawan
Turtle Islands, Tawi-Tawi
Kalayaan, Palawan (smack in the middle of the Spratlys conflict)
Babuyan Islands, Cagayan
Now I want to learn French and visit there. I think it would be a great experience.
I know it's remote and could be dangerous, and as just an IT nerd I don't have much to offer, but man I would love to work there for a few months.