Indian Ocean, Western 50 - Marine


Country/territory: High Seas

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

Area: 16,290,528 hectares (162,905.28 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 162905 km2 and is 401 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 924 to 4756 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 2.01 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 20.36 and 23.76 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.12 and 0.28 mg/m3.

Key biodiversity
2 species trigger IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 432-1020 individuals of Red-Tailed Tropicbird (LC) from Nosy Ve are present at the site during the Breeding (Year-Round) life-history stage. 938-3750 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 50 - Marine (High Seas). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/indian-ocean-western-50--marine-iba-high-seas on 23/12/2024.