Indian Ocean, Western 42 - Marine


Country/territory: High Seas

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

Area: 213,726 hectares (2,137.26 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 2137 km2 and is 513 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 5024 to 5135 m, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 23.44 and 23.75 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.1 and 0.11 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 42 - Marine (High Seas). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/indian-ocean-western-42--marine-iba-high-seas on 23/12/2024.