My trip to the Frech Subantarctic was focused on Albatrosses, such as the endemic Albatrosses of the southern Indian Ocean:the Indian Yellow nosed and the Amsterdam Albatross. The french flagship Marion Dufresne, with a heli and ca 80 scientists and technical specialists and a few tourists on board hits the rocks close to the first Island on the trip, Crozet, and was damaged under the waterline. All the passengers were evacuated to the small settlement of Crozet. After 10 days the cable-layer Leon Thevenin picked up these people for a 7 days trip (the first 48 hours in very rough sea) to Capetown (nice penguins again!!).
The whole rescue operation was carried out very efficient by the french TAAF.