page_title: Masirah Island
section_title: Ecology
hierarchical_section_title: Masirah Island / Ecology
caption_attribution_description: English: An image taken from the Open Data section of the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs displaying the nesting locations of sea turtles in Masirah Island.
context_page_description: Masirah Island, also referred to as Mazeira Island and Wilāyat Maṣīrah, is an island off the east coast of mainland Oman in the Arabian Sea, and the largest island of the country. It is 95 km long north-south, between 12 and 14 km wide, with an area of about 649 km², and a population estimated at 12,000 in 12 villages mainly in the north of the island. Administratively, it forms one of the eleven provinces of the Ash Sharqiyah Region. The principal village is Raʾs-Ḥilf in the northern part of the island. It contains a Royal Air Force of Oman air base and a fish factory, as well as a few small towns. Previously, the BBC had a relay facility consisting of both HF and MF broadcasting transmitters stationed there. Most of the island's interior is deserted, with access to the island only possible by a small ferry for cars or by Royal Air Force of Oman Airbus A320 or Lockheed C-130 Hercules flights.
  The main industries are fishing and traditional textile manufacturing. Formerly, traditional shipbuilding was important.
context_section_description: The island is an important hatching ground for loggerhead sea turtles, similar in importance to the beaches at Ras al Hadd and nearby Ras al-Jinz as a hatching ground for green sea turtles. Critically endangered and the most unique population of humpback whales also migrate in the waters surrounding the island and Masirah gulf.
caption: Sea turtles' nesting locations
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