Data Zone
Country/territory: French Southern Territories
IBA Criteria met: -
For more information about IBA criteria please click here
Area: 1,273,883 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 12739 km2 and is 148 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 51 to 2848 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 2.98 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 4.34 and 5.91 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.24 and 0.48 mg/m3.
Key biodiversity
3 species trigger IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 251-2506 individuals of Wandering Albatross (VU) from Iles Crozet are present at the site during the Immature (Feb-Oct) life-history stage. 540-5400 individuals of Sooty Albatross (EN) from Iles Crozet are present at the site during the Incubation (Oct-Dec) and Post-guard (Jan-May) life-history stages.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2023) Important Bird Areas factsheet: Indian Ocean, Antarctic and Southern 51 - Marine. Downloaded from
http://www.birdlife.org on 21/03/2023.
