Key Biodiversity Areas

Indian Ocean, Western 2 - Marine (30381)
High Seas, High Seas

Site overview


KBA status: confirmed
Global KBA criteria: A1aA1cD1a
Year of last assessment: 2012
National site name: Indian Ocean, Western 2 - Marine
Central coordinates: Latitude: -41.4000, Longitude: 37.6000
System: marine
Area of KBA (km2): 464.162
KBA classification: Global
Legacy site: Yes

Site details


Site description: 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 464 km2 and is 484 km away from the closet coastline. The depth ranges from 3720 to 4003 m, with a mean annual wind speed of 2.75 m/s, mean annual sea surface temperature falls between 12.88 and 13.37 °C and mean annual chlorophyll-a concentrations found to range between 0.39 and 0.41 mg/m3.
Rationale for qualifying as KBA: This site qualifies as a Key Biodiversity Area of international significance that meets the thresholds for at least one criterion described in the Global Standard for the Identification of KBAs.
Additional biodiversity: 2 species trigger IBA criteria at this Marine IBA. BirdLife analyses of tracking data estimates that 23-26 individuals of Amsterdam Albatross (CR) from Ile Amsterdam are present at the site during the Non-breeding (Apr-Nov) life-history stage. 981-1570 individuals of Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross (EN) from Prince Edward Island are present at the site during the Post-guard (Jan-Apr) life-history stage.
Delineation rationale: Site identified by analysis of tracking dataset(s) - ama_ami_nb, yni_pei_pg

Habitats


IUCN HabitatCoverage %Habitat detail
Marine Neritic100