Seas of the Outer Hebrides

Sound of Barra

Protected species & habitats: harbour seal, reefs, sandbanks including maerl and seagrass beds.

The complex topography, diversity of habitat types and fast tidal streams have created an area of high biodiversity within the Sound of Barra. The rocky reef communities in the west of the MPA provide shelter for many species and contain a vast kelp forest that protects the low-lying Uists from coastal erosion. There are extensive areas of maerl and seagrass present in the Sound, both providing important nursery grounds for fish and shellfish. Harbour seals are present all year round and breed in the summer on rocky islets. The Sound of Barra’s marine environment benefits people locally via fishing, shellfish gathering, seaweed harvesting and through wildlife watching and tourism.

Take a  virtual dive  through the Sound of Barra.

South Uist Machair

Protected species & habitats: lagoons, saline lagoons, otter, little tern, ringed plover, sanderling, oystercatcher.

South Uist is perhaps the finest example of machair grassland habitat in the world.  Wind-blown sand and shell fragments slowly build up over time creating this spectacular habitat unique to Scotland and Ireland. The calcium-rich soil and traditional Outer Hebrides crofting practices have led to the development of a distinctive mix of habitats renowned for their wildflowers, insect and birdlife. The machair has been managed for at least a thousand years here in a low-intensity, traditional scheme of seasonal grazing and rotational cultivation, providing a fantastic example of how people and nature can both benefit in tandem. As well as being important for corncrake and other terrestrial birds, the machair of South Uist is home to internationally important numbers of little tern. Little terns are one of Scotland’s rarest seabirds and return from West Africa every spring to nest on the machair and dive for sandeels off the coast. They are joined by large numbers of wading birds like sanderling, oystercatcher and ringed plover. These birds forage along the shoreline and amongst the beach-cast seaweed and rocks.

Machair is a very low-lying habitat, with high winter water levels, making it one of our habitats most vulnerable to sea level rise. Extensive kelp beds off the coast help protect the machair from storms by absorbing some of the wave energy

Read more about  machair  in Scotland.

Monach Isles

Protected species & habitats: grey seal, black guillemot, little tern, breeding bird assemblage, m arine geological and geomorphological features. 

Also known as Heisgeir, the Monach Isles consist of five low-lying islands situated twelve kilometres west of North Uist. They hold the world’s second largest grey seal colony, internationally important numbers of black guillemot as well as one of the best examples of uncultivated machair in Europe. The Monach Isles are also one of a collection of MPAs in Scotland where  geodiversity  is a recognised feature with glacial erosion clearly visible in the landscape today.

Over 800 breeding black guillemots rely on the rich feeding grounds encompassed by the Marine Protected Area around the Monach Isles. Unlike other auks that feed offshore, the black guillemot is typically found feeding close inshore, and rarely disperses far from the islands, even in winter. 

Read more about the  Monach Isles MPA .

St Kilda and Seas off St Kilda

Protected species & habitats: sea caves, reefs, northern fulmar, northern gannet, common guillemot, razorbill, Atlantic puffin, great skua, kittiwake, European storm petrel, Leach's petrel, Manx shearwater, seabird assemblage.

The dramatic St Kilda archipelago, formed from the rim of an ancient volcano, rises up from the Atlantic Ocean to the west of the Outer Hebrides. World famous for both its natural and cultural heritage, St Kilda is the UK’s only dual world heritage site. With nearly one million seabirds present at the height of the breeding season, the four small islands of Hirta, Dun, Boreray and Soay, support the largest seabird colony in the north-east Atlantic. This includes over 50 000 pairs of gannets, 150 000 thousand pairs of puffins and is the UK’s stronghold for Leach’s storm petrel.

Beneath the waves, the oceanic conditions, combined with exceptional water clarity and volcanic geology has created a marine environment of incredible diversity. The reefs and sea caves form plunging underwater rock faces that are carpeted with anemones, soft corals and other life which create an underwater landscape of breath-taking beauty and outstanding biodiversity.

The MPAs at St Kilda aim to protect both the seabird colony and the underwater features for future generations. The Seas off St Kilda MPA was classified in 2020 to help protect the key foraging grounds that many of the seabirds nesting on St Kilda rely on for feeding and provisioning their young.

 Watch St Kilda diving video .

North Harris

Protected species: Atlantic salmon, otter, freshwater pearl mussel.

North Harris is rightly famous for its eagles and mountains but it is also remarkable for its populations of wild Atlantic salmon, otters and the rare freshwater pearl mussel. A healthy marine environment is important to the species that spend some or all of their lives in the adjoining freshwater rivers here.

Atlantic salmon live in freshwater as juveniles but migrate to sea as adults to feed in the rich waters around Greenland and Iceland. Amazingly, after up to four years away they return to spawn in the very same stretch of river in which they were born. Angling is an important part of the local economy and watching the salmon run the waterfalls near Amhuinnsuidhe Castle in late summer and autumn can be spectacular.

North Harris is also one of the best places to see otters in Scotland. Equally at home in the sea or freshwater, the rich marine life in the area provides an important source of food for these magnificent mammals.

Curiously the fresh water pearl mussel relies on salmon (and trout) as a key part of their own life cycle. The tiny mussel larvae clamp on to the gills of the fish and grow in that safe, oxygen-rich environment before dropping off and settling onto the river bed. 

Read more about  Atlantic salmon .

North Rona and Sula Sgeir

Protected species & habitats: sea caves, reefs, grey seal, northern fulmar, northern gannet, great black-backed gull, common guillemot, Atlantic puffin, razorbill, kittiwake, Leach's petrel, European storm petrel, seabird assemblage, seabird colony.

On the farthest north boundary of the Outer Hebrides Marine Region the remote and uninhabited islands of North Rona and Sula Sgeir rise out of the North Atlantic.

The waters around North Rona are home to some excellent examples of exposed reef communities and sea caves in Scottish waters. Due to the exceptional water clarity, light-dependent kelp grows as deep as 35 m. The reefs provide connectivity between habitat and the intertidal and subtidal sea caves provide unique habitats with scoured, rock faces covered in brightly coloured jewel anemones, sponges and sea squirts.

Both North Rona and Sula Sgeir are of special importance for nature conservation, and scientific value of their large colonies of breeding seabirds. The islands support internationally important breeding populations of storm petrel, leach’s petrel, gannet and guillemot.

These islands are occasionally visited by wildlife and cultural tourists including cruise ships and occasional diving and kayaking groups. Sula Sgeir has particular significance to the Ness community of Lewis through the sustainable guga (gannet) harvest each summer.

North-east Lewis

Protected species: Risso's dolphin, sandeel.

Risso’s dolphins are predominantly deep water lovers but in the North-east Lewis MPA over 75 individuals have been identified with many re-sighted year on year. At 58° north this MPA is towards the most northerly extent of their range, but mothers with calves and groups consisting entirely of juveniles have also been recorded. This suggests these waters are not only essential for feeding but may also be important for breeding, nursing and raising their young.

Risso’s are sociable cetaceans and are mostly sighted in pods. Two coastline vantage points bordering this MPA form part of the  Hebridean Whale Trail .

Risso’s can also be seen interacting with other species, which in this region, has led to a very interesting discovery, the first documented proof of hybridisation between wild dolphins in UK waters. Fieldwork by  Whale and Dolphin Conservation  has recorded a number of dolphins showing characteristics of both Risso’s and bottlenose dolphins within the MPA, suggesting mating between bottlenose dolphins with resident Risso's dolphins. This is a significant finding and continued monitoring of dolphins within the MPA will help us understand more about the extent and significance of hybridism in wild dolphins.

The North-east Lewis MPA also encompasses a large coastal sandeel ground.

Highly nutritious, sandeels are a vital component of marine food webs providing food for marine predators such as seabirds, mammals and fish. The sandy seabed forms part of an internationally important  geodiversity  feature present in this part of the Minch.

Read more about  Risso's dolphins .

Shiant Islands and Shiant East Bank

Protected species & habitats: northern fulmar, common guillemot, Atlantic puffin, razorbill, kittiwake, European shag, seabird assemblage,  circalittoral sands and mixed sediment communities , northern sea fan and sponge communities  geological and geomorphological features. 

Positioned in the middle of the Minch, the Shiant Isles are one of the most important breeding colonies for seabirds in Europe - around 10% of UK puffins and 7% of UK razorbills breed here every year. The Shiant Islands were declared officially  free of black rats  in the spring of 2018 after a four year project to create a haven for nesting seabirds. Later that year the first evidence of successful breeding by storm petrels was recorded when a chick was heard calling from a nest crevice on the islands.

With biosecurity measures now in place, boat owners visiting the islands are critical to help keep these islands rat free. The project has also paved the way for future island restoration projects to take place around Scotland to help protect internationally important seabird populations.

Fifteen kilometres to the north-east of the Shiant Isles, the Shiant East Bank MPA protects a biologically diverse and dynamic marine environment. Glacial processes formed an irregular shaped bank on the seabed creating turbulence that draws up relatively cool and nutrient rich waters from the deep, mixing it with warmer shallower waters. This churning greatly increases the availability of food, attracting small fish and crabs which in turn draw top predators like whales, dolphins, porpoises and seabirds to the area. There are also important sponge and sea fan communities on the rocky areas of the seabed.

Read more about  Shiant East Bank MPA .

Loch nam Madadh / Loch Maddy

Protected species & habitats: reefs, intertidal mudflats and sandflats, lagoons, shallow inlets and bays, subtidal sandbanks, mudflats, rocky shore, saline lagoon, tidal rapids, foxtail stonewort, otter.

The Loch nam Madadh MPA protects an extensive and diverse system of saline lagoons. The highly irregular coastline contains a large number of inlets, islands, channels, tidal rapids and over twenty sills and basins. Maerl beds within the MPA support a high diversity of species and are important nursery grounds for fish and shellfish. Swards of seagrass sway in tide-swept channels while the rocky shoreline provides excellent habitat for otters.

On the shores of Lochmaddy, on the outside of the Taigh Chearsabhagh Museum & Arts Centre building is powerful art installation  Lines (57° 59′ N, 7°16’W ) exploring the impact of our relationship with nature. The work provokes a dialogue on how the rising sea levels will affect coastal areas, its inhabitants and land usage in the future. This is specifically relevant in the low lying Uists and in particular to the Centre which cannot develop on its existing site due to predicted storm surge sea levels.

 More photos  from Loch nam Madadh.