Hafza Thila is located in the northern-central Maldives archipelago which sits centrally upon the Chagos-Laccadive Ridge (Stevens & Froman 2019). This area is an oval pinnacle reef in the middle of the atoll basin of the North Ari Atoll. Thila is the local name for underwater pinnacle reef where the top of the reef is completely submerged, even during low tide (Stevens & Froman 2019). The top reef has a depth of 10–12 m and slopes down to 35 m reaching a sandy bottom. This area has several vertical walls at varying depths with overhangs and black corals surrounding the thila.

The weather in the Maldives is strongly influenced by the South Asian monsoon, especially the northern and central atolls as these are closer to the Indian subcontinent (Anderson et al. 2011). Therefore, two monsoons occur annually in Maldives. The southwest monsoon (locally known as Hulhan’gu), from May to November, and the northeast monsoon (locally known as Iruvai), from January to March, with transitional periods in December and April (Shankar et al. 2002; Anderson et al. 2011). The southwest monsoon increases average rainfall, and wind speeds, causing rougher seas and reduced visibility; in contrast, the northeast monsoon usually brings clear waters (Stevens & Froman 2019).

The Maldives archipelago disrupts the flow of the monsoon-driven North Equatorial Current as it crosses the Indian Ocean (Schott & McCreary 2001) which creates a current flow through the Maldives’ channels (Sasamal 2006). The strongest lunar currents can overcome the prevailing monsoonal currents through the tidal suction mechanism along the channel’s outer edges (Stevens 2016).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthopelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to a depth of 30 m based on the depth range of Qualifying Species in this area.