Loranchet Peninsula

The peninsula occupies the north-western corner of Grande Terre and is named after Jean Loranchet, the first officer of Raymond Rallier du Baty’s second Kerguelen survey expedition in 1913.

It has a rugged, mountainous interior, with altitudes exceeding 500 m and a coastline of steep cliffs deeply incised by fjords.

As with most of Grande Terre, it is infested with introduced feral cats, rats and rabbits.

[1] The northern end of the peninsula, and the northernmost part of Grande Terre, extending northwards from the head of the Baie de la Dauphine, has been identified as a 60 km2 Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because of its breeding seabirds.

Other birds include light-mantled albatrosses, Kerguelen terns and Eaton's pintails.

Topographic map of the Kerguelen archipelago showing the peninsula in the north-west (upper left)
Two macaroni penguins – one standing, one lying on belly
The northern tip of the peninsula is an important breeding site for macaroni penguins