Indian Ocean, Antarctic and Southern 33 - Marine


Country/territory: French Southern Territories

IBA Criteria met: -
For more information about IBA criteria please click here

Area: 41,860 ha


Site description
This Marine IBA is identified using tracking data. It falls within the French Southern Territories Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and the Indian Ocean, FAO ocean region. The site covers an area of 419 km2 and is 315 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 1507 to 2961 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 3.47 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 4.06 and 4.63 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.35 and 0.65 mg/m3.

Key biodiversity
2 species trigger IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 173-607 individuals of Wandering Albatross (VU) from Iles Kerguelen are present at the site during the Brood-guard (Mar-Apr) and Juvenile (Nov-Dec) life-history stages.


Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Indian Ocean, Antarctic and Southern 33 - Marine. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 31/03/2023.