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ISRA FACTSHEETS

EUROPEAN ATLANTIC

ISRA FACTSHEETS

EUROPEAN ATLANTIC

Southwestern La Palma ISRA

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Southwestern La Palma ISRA

Southwestern La Palma

Summary

Southwestern La Palma is located on the southwest coast of La Palma Island, Canary Islands, Spain. The area encompasses a narrow coastal platform followed by a steep slope. It is characterised by reefs and rocky substrates with numerous caves and submarines valleys. It is influenced by the Canary Current and the coastal upwelling system off northwest Africa. The area overlaps with the Oceanic Islands and Seamounts of the Canary Region Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area. Within this area there are: threatened species and undefined aggregations (Sicklefin Devil Ray Mobula tarapacana).

Southwestern La Palma

Southwestern La Palma

DESCRIPTION OF HABITAT

Southwestern La Palma is located on the southwest coast of La Palma Island, Canary Islands, Spain. The area encompasses a narrow coastal platform followed by a steep slope. It is characterised by lava-formed reefs, basaltic terraces, rocky pinnacles, vertical walls, sandy patches, and prominent submerged structures such as the Malpique volcanic feature. In addition, the area contains localised zones of thermal discharge formed by submarine vents where warmer water emerges.

This area is influenced by the Canary Current and the coastal upwelling system off northwest Africa, which inject cold, nutrient-rich waters seasonally, promoting elevated primary productivity, especially from boreal spring to autumn (Gómez-Letona et al. 2017).

This area overlaps with the Oceanic Islands and Seamounts of the Canary Region Ecologically or Biologically Significant Marine Area (EBSA; CBD 2025). This Important Shark and Ray Area is benthic and pelagic and is delineated from inshore and surface waters (0 m) to 250 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 Sicklefin Devil Ray (Marshall et al. 2022).

CRITERION C

SUB-CRITERION C5 – UNDEFINED AGGREGATIONS

Southwestern La Palma is an important area for undefined aggregations of one ray species.

Between 2017–2023, citizen science and social media observations were collected across the Canary Islands (n = 403 Mobula spp. sightings with audiovisual material; A Rodríguez-Juncá unpubl. data 2025). Although diving activity in the area is less frequent compared to other regions of the Canary Islands (e.g., El Hierro where >20,000 dives are conducted per year; Meyers et al. 2017), Southwestern La Palma is the only location in the Canary Islands, aside from El Hierro, where regular aggregations of this species have been reported (A Rodríguez-Juncá unpubl. data 2025). Between 2017–2023, 13 of the 14 sightings of Sicklefin Devil Rays around La Palma Island were recorded in this area, of which five corresponded to aggregations (38% of the sightings within the area; range, 4–50 individuals; mean, 18) (RedPROMAR Gobierno de Canarias 2025; A Rodríguez-Juncá unpubl. data 2025). Aggregations were seasonal, with observations between May–November (A Rodríguez-Juncá unpubl. data 2025). Additionally, 40% of fishers interviewed in the guild Tazacorte (n = 10) reported frequent sightings of Sicklefin Devil Rays during their fishing trips (Rodríguez-Juncá et al. 2023; A Rodríguez-Juncá unpubl. data 2025). Globally, large aggregations for this species are rare and have only been observed at a few other locations in the world such as the Azores Archipelago off the coast of Portugal (Sobral & Afonso 2014) and the São Pedro and São Paulo Archipelago off the Brazilian mainland (Mendonça et al. 2018).

Southwestern La Palma

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