ISRA FACTSHEETS
ISRA FACTSHEETS
WESTERN INDIAN OCEAN REGION
Elphinstone Reef
Summary
Elphinstone Reef is an isolated reef platform and seamount located ~30 km off the Egyptian mainland in the Red Sea. The area includes shallow flats, deep plateaus, reef walls, and open waters. It is characterised by stairstep plateaus down to ~50 m followed by steep walls descending to 400 m. Within this area there are: threatened species and undefined aggregations (Oceanic Whitetip Shark Carcharhinus longimanus).
Download factsheet
Elphinstone Reef
DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT
Elphinstone Reef is an isolated pinnacle surrounded by deep water located ~30 km off the Egyptian mainland in the Red Sea. This area includes shallow flats, deeper plateaus, reef walls, and open waters (E Bojanowski pers. obs. 2023). The area is characterised by steep walls (extending to 400 m) and a wide plateau between 20 and 40 m depth. The reef walls are dominated by corals and fifteen species of sponges from the class Demospongiae (El-Bossery et al. 2017). The vertical reef walls at Elphinstone are exposed to strong currents (Riegl & Piller 1999).
This Important Shark and Ray Area is pelagic and extends from surface waters (0 m) to 400 m based on the bathymetry of the area and the observation of the Qualifying Species.
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 Oceanic Whitetip Shark is assessed as Critically Endangered (Rigby et al. 2019).
CRITERION C
SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS
Elphinstone Reef is an important aggregation area for one shark species.
Oceanic Whitetip Sharks are regularly and predictably observed in aggregations of up to 28 individuals around Elphinstone Reef. The mean aggregation size at Elphinstone Reef is 3.4 individuals although animals can also be seen alone at this site (Shawky & De Maddalena 2013; E Bojanowski unpubl. data 2023). Encounter rates peak in October and November (E Bojanowski unpubl. data 2023). These are the largest known aggregations of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks in the Red Sea and has become a popular site for dive operators (Shawky & De Maddalena 2013). The high abundance of Oceanic Whitetip Sharks at this and other Egyptian sites has been documented for more than 15 years (2004–2019) with 465 individuals (124 males, 256 females, and 85 individuals with sex undetermined) phot-identified at Elphinstone Reef (E Bojanowski unpubl. data 2023). The reason for these seasonal aggregations is not yet understood, and further information is needed to understand their function.
Download factsheet
SUBMIT A REQUEST
ISRA SPATIAL LAYER REQUEST
To make a request to download the ISRA Layer in either a GIS compatible Shapefile (.shp) or Google Earth compatible Keyhole Markup Language Zipped file (.kmz) please complete the following form. We will review your request and send the download details to you. We will endeavor to send you the requested files as soon as we can. However, please note that this is not an automated process, and before requests are responded to, they undergo internal review and authorization. As such, requests normally take 5–10 working days to process.
Should you have questions about the data or process, please do not hesitate to contact us.