Country/territory: High Seas
IBA criteria met: A1, A4ii (2012)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here
Area: 475,900 hectares (4,759.00 km2)
Site description (2012 baseline)
This Marine IBA is identified using tracking data. It falls within High Seas International Waters and the Indian Ocean, FAO ocean region. The site covers an area of 4759 km2 and is 926 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 1904 to 4262 m, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 17.25 and 17.57 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.2 and 0.23 mg/m3.
Key biodiversity
2 species trigger IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 501-607 individuals of Wandering Albatross (VU) from Iles Crozet are present at the site during the Post-guard (Apr-Dec) life-history stage. 599-799 individuals of Wandering Albatross (VU) from South Georgia are present at the site during the Juvenile (Jun-Oct) life-history stage.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Indian Ocean, Western 10 - Marine (High Seas). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/indian-ocean-western-10--marine-iba-high-seas on 22/12/2024.