Port-aux-Français


Port-aux-Français is the main settlement of the Kerguelen Islands, and French Southern and Antarctic Lands, in the south Indian Ocean.

Occupancy

The settlement is located on the shore of the Gulf of Morbihan. About 45 residents spend winter there, although the group can reach over 120 people in the summer. The location was chosen in 1949 by Pierre Sicaud as a sheltered site suitable for the construction of an airfield, though this was never built.
From 1955 to 1957, a French slaughterhouse company, SIDAP, built an elephant seal processing plant equipped with Australian machinery. The factory opened its doors just after the wedding of the director,, and Martine Raulin on 16 December 1957. This was the first marriage ever celebrated on the islands. The factory closed in 1960, and the equipment was sent to Réunion in 2005.
Port-aux-Français has a shallow seaport which allows the unloading of supply ships with barges shuttling to the quay.
The settlement, in addition to the logistical facilities for its own operation, hosts scientific laboratories, technical stations, a cinema and a small medical centre. There is also a small Catholic Church – Notre-Dame des Vents – in the settlement.

Tidal gauges

The base of Port-aux-Français is equipped with a marigraphic station, having three measuring devices:
The two marigraphs and the radar send data to a local server, which relays them hourly to the Internet via the Argos satellite system.

Climate

Port-aux-Français has an ocean-moderated mild tundra climate. Temperatures tend to remain fairly stable throughout the year, rarely reaching over or falling below. The average temperature in February, the warmest month, is with a maximum of during the day and during the night. In winter, July and August are the coldest months, averaging during the day and at night.
Snowfall is possible in all months, though more common in winter. The climate is windier than in most places, with a recorded gust of.
The lowest recorded temperature was on 11 August 2014, which beats the old record of set in June 1953.
The highest temperature was on 30 January 1959.