true

ISRA FACTSHEETS

NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

Kehpara ISRA

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Kehpara ISRA

Kehpara

Summary

Kehpara is located within the Kitti Municipality of Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The area encompasses a seaward facing promontory along a barrier reef system on the southwest corner of Pohnpei Island. The area is characterised by a reef flat which extends from the reef crest and transitions to a reef wall. The area overlaps the Kehpara Marine Sanctuary. Within this area there are: threatened species and feeding areas (Grey Reef Shark Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos).

Kehpara

Kehpara

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Kehpara is located in the southwest of Pohnpei Island in the Federated States of Micronesia. The area falls within the Kitti Municipality. The area encompasses a seaward-facing promontory along a barrier reef system on the southwest corner of Pohnpei. The area is characterised by a reef flat extending from the reef crest to a reef wall at varying distances (tens of m) from the crest. The wall varies in depth from ~15–50 m where it transitions into a reef slope that extends for 100+ m to a second drop off outside the area (Rhodes & Sadovy 2002). The flat, wall, and slope are comprised of living and dead scleractinian corals with high rugosity (K Rhodes pers. obs. 2024). The slope has numerous sand channels running perpendicular to the wall. South of the area lies Kehpara Channel, a narrow (~20 m), shallow (1–10 m) channel between Kehpara and Black Coral Island. There is a deep channel (>1,100 m) that runs between the area in Pohnpei and nearby Ahnd Atoll 10.5 km to the west. Currents flow predominantly to the south, with occasional vortices forming in front of the inflection of the promontory in the area (K Rhodes pers. obs. 2024).

The area overlaps with the Kehpara Marine Sanctuary (Rhodes & Sadovy 2002).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 70 m based on the bathymetry of the area.

CRITERION A

VULNERABILITY

One Qualifying Species considered threatened with extinction according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species regularly occurs in the area. This is the Endangered Grey Reef Shark (Simpfendorfer et al. 2020).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C2 – FEEDING AREAS

Kehpara is an important feeding area for one shark species.

Between 1998–2024, aggregations of Grey Reef Sharks were regularly observed in the area (K Rhodes pers. obs. 2024). Fish spawning aggregation (FSA) monitoring of Brown-marbled Grouper Epinephelus fuscoguttatus, Camouflage Grouper Epinephelus polyphekadion, and Squaretail Coralgrouper Plectropomus areolatus occured annually from January–May in the area (2001–2024), starting 10–14 days prior to full moon (n = 25 dive surveys/year) (Rhodes et al. 2014). Aggregations of Grey Reef Sharks were present during all dives, varying in number from 5–15 individuals (average = 7; K Rhodes unpubl. data 2024). Grey Reef Sharks patrol the area adjacent to the wall and above the slope throughout the year, however, their numbers and residency increase during FSA periods. Between January 2010–October 2013, acoustic tracking of 21 Grey Reef Sharks revealed their activity space concentrates around the FSA during spawning times and expands well beyond the area during non-spawning months (Rhodes et al. 2019). Predation has not been directly observed, however, surveys in the area were only conducted during daylight hours and Grey Reef Shark activity space is confirmed as most concentrated during peak aggregation periods for spawning groupers. In French Polynesia, surveys of Grey Reef Shark aggregations in relation to Camouflage Grouper spawning were conducted at nighttime when observations of predation on spawning fish aggregations were highest (Mourier et al. 2016).

Kehpara

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