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ISRA FACTSHEETS

NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

ISRA FACTSHEETS

NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS REGION

Petrie ISRA

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Petrie ISRA

Petrie

Summary

Petrie is located on the northeastern side of New Caledonia. The area is an atoll with a barrier reef surrounding an inner lagoon that opens to oceanic waters on the northwestern side. It is characterised by live and dead coral substrates with sandy patches. The area overlaps with the Natural Park of the Coral Sea. Within this area there are: threatened species and undefined aggregations (Grey Reef Shark Carcharhinus amblyrhynchos).

Petrie

Petrie

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Petrie is located on the northeastern side of New Caledonia within the Coral Sea. It sits on the most northwestern part of the Loyalty Ridge, ~180 km of the northern tip of the Grande Terre Island and ~290 km northwest of Ouvéa Island (Maurizot et al. 2020). The area is an atoll with a barrier reef surrounding an inner lagoon that opens to oceanic waters on the northwestern side (Andréfouët & Torres-Pulizza 2004). It is characterised by a narrow barrier reef with a steep reef slope dominated by live and dead coral substrates along with sandy and rocky patches (Pelletier et al. 2020).

The area overlaps with the Natural Park of the Coral Sea (UNEP-WCMC & IUCN 2024).

This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from surface waters (0 m) to 50 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 occur in the area. This is the Endangered Grey Reef Shark (Simpfendorfer et al. 2020).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS

Petrie is an important area for undefined aggregations of one shark species.

Aggregations of Grey Reef Sharks are regularly observed in this area and have been documented by underwater surveys, visual censuses, and Baited Remote Underwater Video Station (BRUVS) surveys (Vigliola et al. 2014; Schohn et al. 2017; A Friedlander unpubl. data. 2024; Wantiez et al. unpubl data 2024).

Between 2012–2014, underwater surveys (n = 253) were conducted along New Caledonia reefs. Surveys consisted of fixed-width transects (25 m long by 4 m wide at 10 and 20 m depths), distance-sampling visual census (50 m long by 10 m wide at ~15 m depth), and BRUVS (1 hour at ~20 m depth; Vigliola et al. 2014). Of these surveys, 18 were conducted in Petrie during 2013, showing that Grey Reef Sharks aggregate in the area (Vigliola et al. 2014). Carcharhinids were observed in 89% of the dives with Grey Reef Shark recorded in 78% of the surveys, including aggregations (mean = 9, maximum = 20 individuals; Vigliola et al. 2014). In addition, surveys with BRUVS (2012–2014) and distance-sampling visual census (2012–2014) were conducted at 385 sites for BRUVS and 2,790 sits for visual census (including 15 marine protected area) along New Caledonia with Petrie holding one of the largest abundances for sharks among all sites (Juhel et al. 2017). Aggregations for Grey Reef Sharks in visual censuses (8–14 individuals) were among the largest in all New Caledonia (Juhel et al. 2017). Further, of 34 surveys with rotating video stations conducted in 2014 in the area (deployed for 12 minutes from the boat and consisting of cameras rotating 60° every 30 seconds), Grey Reef Sharks were observed in ~40% of the deployments (Schohn et al. 2017). More information is needed to confirm the nature and function of these aggregations.

Petrie

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