Al Saadiyat is located in the southern Arabian/Persian Gulf (hereafter ‘the Gulf’), United Arab Emirates (UAE). It is a shallow coastal area composed of semi-enclosed bays and lagoons, that are connected to the open Gulf through several deeper channels. The substrate is mostly sandy or rocky with patches of coral rubble.

Localised peak winds (known as ‘shamals’) cause variations in water current speed and direction in this area, which induces significant variations in sea-bottom salinity and temperature (Cavalcante et al. 2016). Short-term shamal winds influence oceanographic processes along the coastline, resulting in the formation of large-scale eddies extending across the entire Gulf. Surface water currents form an anticlockwise gyre across the Gulf (Abdelrahman & Ahmad 1995).

The waters of the area are subject to high annual temperature ranges (range: ~15–35°C; mean: 27–28°C), high salinity (41–43‰), and relatively high turbidity (Riegl & Purkis 2012). Each summer, the Gulf is the world’s hottest sea (Riegl et al. 2011). Due to its shallow depth (mean depth = 37 m), restricted water exchange with the Indian Ocean, and the hyper-arid nature of its surrounding environment, summer Sea Surface Temperatures in the Gulf may exceed 35°C (Sheppard et al. 1992; Coles 2003), with temperatures >33°C occurring for several months (Riegl et al. 2012).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 6 m depth based on the bathymetry of the area.