Indian Ocean, Western 40 - Marine (High Seas) IBA | Summary

Indian Ocean, Western 40 - Marine

Current view: summary

Country/territory: High Seas

IBA criteria met: A1, A4ii (2012)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 750,169 hectares (7,501.69 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 7502 km2 and is 585 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 5349 to 5513 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 2.07 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 23.46 and 24.25 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.1 and 0.12 mg/m3.

Key biodiversity
1 species triggers IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 938-1500 individuals of Barau's Petrel (EN) from Reunion are present at the site during the Breeding (Nov-Apr) life-history stage.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: Indian Ocean, Western 40 - Marine (High Seas). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/indian-ocean-western-40--marine-iba-high-seas on 23/12/2024.