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ISRA FACTSHEETS

SOUTH AMERICAN ATLANTIC REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

SOUTH AMERICAN ATLANTIC REGION

Organabo–Battures du Connétable ISRA

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Organabo–Battures du Connétable ISRA

Organabo–Battures du Connétable

Summary

Organabo–Battures du Connétable is located off the coast of French Guiana. This shelf area includes a group of small islands and small rocky outcrops and is characterised by muddy and sandy substrates. It is located at the boundary zone between highly turbid, low salinity coastal waters and less turbid, highly productive offshore waters. The area is influenced by a northwestward coastal current bringing low salinity, highly turbid water from the Amazon River and other regional rivers. It overlaps with the Amazonian-Orinoco Influence Zone Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area. Within this area there are: threatened species and feeding areas (Oceanic Manta Ray Mobula birostris).

Organabo–Battures du Connétable

Organabo–Battures du Connétable

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Organabo–Battures du Connétable is located off the coast of French Guiana. The area encompasses shelf waters between ~10–40 m depth and is situated ~10–50 km off the coast. It includes a group of small islands (Îles du Salut) and a small rocky reef (Battures du Connétable). Apart from those bathymetric features that are rare in the Guianas region, the area is characterised by muddy and sandy substrates and is located at the boundary zone between the highly turbid, low salinity inshore waters, called ‘brown water’ and the less turbid offshore shelf waters, called ‘green water’ (de Boer et al. 2015). The brown water zone is strongly influenced by outflows from the Amazon River and other regional rivers leading to high mud resuspension. The green water zone is highly productive due to high nutrient availability but lower turbidity (de Boer et al. 2015). The influence of the Amazon River outflow on coastal waters in French Guiana is particularly heightened during January–July, when the North Brazil Current and its extension, the Guianas Current, flow northwestward along the coast (Artigas et al. 2003). During the second half of the year, the North Brazil Current retroflection means that more saline and less turbid waters cover French Guiana’s shelf (Artigas et al. 2003), leading to higher primary productivity (Girondot et al. 2015).

This area overlaps with the Amazonian-Orinoco Influence Zone Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA; CBD 2025).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from surface waters (0 m) to 40 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 Oceanic Manta Ray (Marshall et al. 2022).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C2 – FEEDING AREAS

Organabo–Battures du Connétable is an important feeding area for one ray species.

Aerial surveys and citizen science observations collected through the OBSenMER database have shown that Oceanic Manta Rays regularly feed within this area (Girondot et al. 2015; Laran et al. 2019; Bordin & Vanhoucke 2021, 2022, 2023). Aerial surveys under the REMMOA project were conducted in September 2008 and 2017 and covered the whole exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of French Guiana (Mannocci et al. 2013; van Canneyt et al. 2018). Oceanic Manta Rays were sighted up to ~350 km off the coast, but most sightings were close to shore in ~10–40 m water depth, within this area. Of the 234 locations with Oceanic Manta Ray sightings recorded in the 2017 survey, 182 (78%) were inside the area and usually (94.5%) comprised one, but up to three individuals. Subsequent aerial surveys in October 2019, August and October 2021, and September and October 2023 flew zigzag transects focused on this coastal region. While the along-the-coast location of hotspots, where most sightings were made, varied among years, they were always concentrated in this area from ~10–50 km off the coast. Aerial surveys and boat-based citizen scientists reported 202 Oceanic Manta Ray observations inside the area in 2019 (94% of total sightings that year), 57 observations (56%) in 2021, and 41 observations (80%) in 2023. Again, most observations were of single individuals, although six aggregations of 10–80 individuals were recorded in 2019 (Bordin & Vanhoucke 2021, 2022, 2023). Citizen scientist reports of the species in this area were mostly made between 2018–2022, with sporadic reports dating back to 2008 (Bordin & Vanhoucke unpubl. data 2025). Although behaviour is not regularly recorded in aerial surveys or citizen science reports, observations and photos indicate that Oceanic Manta Rays are often observed feeding at the surface (Bordin & Vanhoucke unpubl. data 2025). Additionally, Oceanic Manta Rays are concentrated at the boundary zone where highly turbid brown inshore waters meet less turbid, green offshore waters, suggesting good feeding potential (Lampert 2012). Additional aerial surveys (n = 117) from September 2009 to September 2011 covering the whole EEZ but focusing on the shelf break, outside the area, showed a peak in Oceanic Manta Ray sightings during July–December, which coincides with higher primary productivity (Girondot et al. 2015), further supporting that the species feeds in this area.

Organabo–Battures du Connétable

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