St. Kilda
The island group of St. Kilda lies about 50 tumultuous miles off the coast of the Outer Hebrides, and consists of a series of volcanic islands, many just mere rocks jutting above the surface of the ocean. This archipelago is a dual World Heritage Site, recognized not only for its abundant wildlife but also for the rich cultural past. It is one of the best nature reserves in Western Europe, and combined with its amazing history, made for an exciting day of exploration.
Seabirds were our constant companions today, as St. Kilda is home to about 1 million breeding seabirds of 15 species. Included in this are the largest nesting colony of Northern Gannets in the world with about 60,000 pairs, and the largest breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins in the British Isles, numbering around 230,000 burrows. Needless to say, the continuous swirl of birds resembled a beehive. This speck of an island is one of THE major nesting areas in the northern Atlantic, and we experienced it by approaching close to various Stacs in the ship, by winding through caves in our Zodiacs, and by climbing the cliffs to look down upon nesting birds.
Humans had eked out an existence on these rocks for the past 4,000 years, and have left a formidable array of stonework showing their ingenuity in coping with the harsh environment and remoteness. Seabirds were their main source of nutrition, and the most recent inhabitants, who were evacuated from the island in 1930, left behind hundreds of small stone buildings called cleiteans. These cleiteans are unique to St. Kilda and consist of a turf roof and many small holes to allow for the drying and storing of birds, hay, and fuel. Tracing further back is the “House of the Fairies” which is an underground food storage building, dating possibly as far back as 2,000 years ago. Dating even further back is a burial site on the edge of the cliff at the “gap”, which dates about 3,000 years ago. From this site, many of us peered down nearly 600 feet into the ocean and watched nesting Northern Fulmars on the cliff face. This is one of the many places where the inhabitants lowered themselves over the edge with a rope, dangling far below to collect fulmars to eat in order to survive in this harsh environment. Sitting on this spot gazing out at the hundreds of thousands of seabirds now protected in this nature reserve allowed for reflection of the amazing inhabitants that survived here for thousands of years.
The island group of St. Kilda lies about 50 tumultuous miles off the coast of the Outer Hebrides, and consists of a series of volcanic islands, many just mere rocks jutting above the surface of the ocean. This archipelago is a dual World Heritage Site, recognized not only for its abundant wildlife but also for the rich cultural past. It is one of the best nature reserves in Western Europe, and combined with its amazing history, made for an exciting day of exploration.
Seabirds were our constant companions today, as St. Kilda is home to about 1 million breeding seabirds of 15 species. Included in this are the largest nesting colony of Northern Gannets in the world with about 60,000 pairs, and the largest breeding colony of Atlantic Puffins in the British Isles, numbering around 230,000 burrows. Needless to say, the continuous swirl of birds resembled a beehive. This speck of an island is one of THE major nesting areas in the northern Atlantic, and we experienced it by approaching close to various Stacs in the ship, by winding through caves in our Zodiacs, and by climbing the cliffs to look down upon nesting birds.
Humans had eked out an existence on these rocks for the past 4,000 years, and have left a formidable array of stonework showing their ingenuity in coping with the harsh environment and remoteness. Seabirds were their main source of nutrition, and the most recent inhabitants, who were evacuated from the island in 1930, left behind hundreds of small stone buildings called cleiteans. These cleiteans are unique to St. Kilda and consist of a turf roof and many small holes to allow for the drying and storing of birds, hay, and fuel. Tracing further back is the “House of the Fairies” which is an underground food storage building, dating possibly as far back as 2,000 years ago. Dating even further back is a burial site on the edge of the cliff at the “gap”, which dates about 3,000 years ago. From this site, many of us peered down nearly 600 feet into the ocean and watched nesting Northern Fulmars on the cliff face. This is one of the many places where the inhabitants lowered themselves over the edge with a rope, dangling far below to collect fulmars to eat in order to survive in this harsh environment. Sitting on this spot gazing out at the hundreds of thousands of seabirds now protected in this nature reserve allowed for reflection of the amazing inhabitants that survived here for thousands of years.
