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 The island of Futaisi lies in the lee of the barrier island of Bahrani, in a shallow sheltered lagoonal complex to the southwest of Abu Dhabi island. Some 10 kilometres long and 5 kilometres wide, it has a mosaic of different coastal habitats, including wind-blown sand and shell sands, wind-scoured rocky outcrops, sabkha (salt flats), intertidal flats and mangrove. As a consequence, despite the absence of any fresh water, the island supports a diverse flora and fauna. Sub-tidally there are seagrass beds over which small numbers of dugong (Dugong dugon), still to be found in the area, graze without threat.
Other notable wildlife includes a minimum of five nesting pairs of osprey (Pandion haliaetus), numerous spiny-tailed lizards or 'dhubs' (Uromastyx microlepis), and sand gazelles (Gazella subgutturosa), descended from native stock. Although inter-island movements formerly typical of the last-named have been curtailed by dredging of navigable channels, a self-sustaining population remains.
Small numbers of terns breed, while large numbers of migrant passerines make landfall in spring and autumn and at least nationally important numbers of shorebirds overwinter.
Shell middens, primarily of Pinctada radiata and lesser quantities of Hexaplex kuesterianus, and Late Islamic pottery scatters and water catchment systems attest to human activity in the Late Islamic period
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