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ISRA FACTSHEETS

WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN REGION

Conception Island ISRA

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Conception Island ISRA

Conception Island

Summary

Conception Island is a small island located west of Mahé, Republic of Seychelles. This insular area is characterised by inshore habitats such as coral reefs and sandy substrates. Conception Island sits within Mahé, Alphonse and Amirantes Plateau Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area. Within this area there are: threatened species and undefined aggregations (Spotted Eagle Ray Aetobatus ocellatus).

Conception Island

Conception Island

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Conception Island is a small island located 2 km west of Mahé, Seychelles. The major environmental conditions in this area are influenced by the monsoon seasons, trade winds, and currents that drive Seychelles’ oceanography (Novozhilov et al. 1992). From May to September, the winds blow from the southeast and from December to March, they blow from the northwest. The transitional period in April and October/November usually features very calm seas and winds (Novozhilov et al. 1992). Sea conditions including sea surface temperature can be subject to positive Indian Ocean Dipole and El-Niño events (Burns & Subrahmanyam 2016). This insular area is primarily comprised of inshore habitats including rocky shorelines, granitic coral reefs around the island, and patchy sandy substrates.

The area sits within Mahé, Alphonse and Amirantes Plateau Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA) (CBD 2023).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthopelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 10 m based on the observations of the Qualifying Species in the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

The one Qualifying Species within the area is considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened SpeciesTM. The Spotted Eagle Ray is assessed as Endangered (Finucci et al. Submitted).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS

Conception Island is important for undefined aggregations of one ray species.

Marine megafauna is recorded as part of an ‘incidental sightings’ data collection program by Global Vision International (GVI) Seychelles. GVI conducts marine monitoring of fishes, corals, and invertebrates at 24 dive sites around northwest Mahé, of which two dive sites are at Conception Island. An incidental sighting is classified as any encounter with marine megafauna, whereby the diver encountering the animal records the species, number of individuals, estimated size, depth, and time. Incidental sightings are recorded during monitoring dives, training, or recreational dives conducted by GVI Seychelles. The monitoring dives alone consist of at least 34 dives per site per year.

Observation records from this area show regular and predictable observations of Spotted Eagle Ray aggregations, year-round, from 2006 to 2013 and from 2018 to 2022 (Global Vision International – Seychelles, unpubl. data 2023). Spotted Eagle Rays were recorded 80 times in total (including singular individuals and pairs). This included aggregations of more than four individuals observed on 17 occasions with a mean group size of 10 individuals (maximum = 30) and a mean estimated size of 65 cm disc width (min. = 30, max. = 150). The mean depth of these observations was 9 m (min. = 5, max. = 10). Further information is required on the nature and function of these aggregations.

Conception Island

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