South Georgia Marine Protected Area Border North (High Seas)

South Georgia Marine Protected Area Border North

Current view: summary

Country/territory: High Seas

IBA criteria met: A1, A4ii (2018)
For more information about IBA criteria, please click here

Area: 11,547,818 ha

Site description (2012 baseline)
This Marine IBA is identified using tracking data. It falls within High Seas International Waters and the Atlantic, Southwest FAO ocean region. The site covers an area of 28214 km2 and is 286 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 2282 to 5243 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 2.91 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 2.28 and 3.95 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.47 and 1.57 mg/m3.

Key biodiversity
6 species trigger IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 559-1118 individuals of Wandering Albatross (VU) from South Georgia are present at the site during the Immature (Dec-Mar) life-history stage. 2250-9000 individuals of Southern Giant-petrel (LC) from South Georgia are present at the site during the Brood-guard (Jan-Feb) life-history stage. 1552-5819 individuals of Northern Giant-petrel (LC) from South Georgia are present at the site during the Brood-guard (Dec-Feb) and Post-guard (Jan-Apr) life-history stages. 922-31205 individuals of Grey-headed Albatross (VU) from South Georgia are present at the site during the Brood-guard (Dec-Jan) and Non-breeding (Oct-Jun) life-history stages.

Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: South Georgia Marine Protected Area Border North (High Seas). Downloaded from https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/south-georgia-marine-protected-area-border-north-iba-high-seas on 22/11/2024.