Indian Ocean, Western 40 - Marine


Site description (2012 baseline):

Site location and context
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.