The island of Lunga is the largest of the

Treshnish Isles The Treshnish Isles are an archipelago of small islands and skerries, lying west of the Isle of Mull, in Scotland. They are part of the Inner Hebrides. Trips to the Treshnish Isles operate from Ulva Ferry, Tobermory, Ardnamurchan and Tiree. Ge ...

Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute (; , ) is one of 32 unitary authority, unitary council areas of Scotland, council areas in Scotland and a lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area. The current lord-lieutenant for Argyll and Bute is Jane Margaret MacLeod ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The Isles are part of the Loch Na Keal National Scenic Area.

History

Lunga, which is of volcanic origin, has been described as 'a green jewel in a peacock sea'. It was inhabited until the 19th century, and still bears the remains of

blackhouse A blackhouse ( ; ) is a traditional type of house which used to be common in Ireland, the Hebrides, and the Scottish Highlands. Origin of the name The origin of the name blackhouse is of some debate. On the Isle of Lewis, in particular, it ...

s. The remains of the ruined village, abandoned in 1857, lie in the northeastern part of the island.

Wildlife

As one of the

, Lunga is a designated

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

, Special Protection Area and Special Area of Conservation. These designations reflect the importance of the island for its marine life, including the

grey seal The grey seal (''Halichoerus grypus'') is a large seal of the family Phocidae, which are commonly referred to as "true seals" or "earless seals". The only species classified in the genus ''Halichoerus'', it is found on both shores of the Nort ...

s that inhabit the waters around it, and for its breeding colonies of seabirds, including

storm-petrel Storm petrel or stormy petrel may refer to one of two bird families, both in the order Procellariiformes, once treated as the same family. The two families are: * Northern storm petrels (''Hydrobatidae'') are found in the Northern Hemisphere ...

kittiwake The kittiwakes (genus ''Rissa'') are two closely related seabird species in the gull family Laridae, the black-legged kittiwake (''Rissa tridactyla'') and the red-legged kittiwake (''Rissa brevirostris''). The epithets "black-legged" and "red- ...

Manx shearwater The Manx shearwater (''Puffinus puffinus'') is a medium-sized shearwater in the seabird family Procellariidae. The scientific name of this species records a name shift: Manx shearwaters were called Manks puffins in the 17th century. Puffin is an ...

guillemot Guillemot is the common name for several species of seabird in the Alcidae or auk family, part of the order Charadriiformes. In Europe, the term covers two genera, '' Uria'' and '' Cepphus''. In North America the ''Uria'' species are called mu ...

puffin Puffins are any of three species of small alcids (auks) in the bird genus ''Fratercula''. These are pelagic seabirds that feed primarily by diving in the water. They breed in large colonies on coastal cliffs or offshore islands, nesting in crev ...

European shag The European shag or common shag (''Gulosus aristotelis'') is a species of cormorant. It is the only member of the monotypic genus ''Gulosus''. It breeds around the rocky coasts of western and southern Europe, southwest Asia and north Africa, ma ...

and

razorbill The razorbill (''Alca torda'') is a North Atlantic colonial seabird and the only extant member of the genus ''Alca (bird), Alca'' of the family Alcidae, the auks. It is the closest living relative of the extinct great auk (''Pinguinus impennis' ...

s. (The birds also breed on the Harp Rock, a sea stack separated from Lunga by a narrow gut.) In addition,

barnacle geese The barnacle goose (''Branta leucopsis'') is a species of goose that belongs to the genus '' Branta'' of black geese, which contains species with extensive black in the plumage, distinguishing them from the grey '' Anser'' species. Despite its s ...

winter on the island. Many rare and endangered plants are also native to Lunga, including primrose, birdsfoot trefoil,

orchid Orchids are plants that belong to the family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan plants that are found in almost every habitat on Eart ...

sea campion ''Silene uniflora'' is a species of flowering plant in the carnation family known by the common name sea campion. Description ''Silene uniflora'' is a perennial plant that forms a mat with stems growing outwards to as much as 30 cm. The ste ...

sea thrift ''Armeria maritima'', the thrift, sea thrift or sea pink, is a species of flowering plant in the family Plumbaginaceae. It is a compact evergreen perennial which grows in low clumps and sends up long stems that support globes of bright pink flow ...

, sea pinks, yellow flags,

tormentil ''Potentilla'' is a genus containing over 500 species of annual, biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family, Rosaceae. Potentillas may also be called cinquefoils in English, but they have also been called five finge ...

and

oyster plant Oyster plant is a common name used for various flowering plants, including: *''Acanthus mollis'', (also called bear's breeches), native to the Mediterranean *''Mertensia maritima'' (also called oysterleaf), native to Europe and North America with ...

. In summer, tourist boats visit Lunga from Ulva Ferry,

Tiree Tiree (; , ) is the most westerly island in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The low-lying island, southwest of Coll, has an area of and a population of around 650. The land is highly fertile, and crofting, alongside tourism, and fishing are ...

, Tobermory,

Iona Iona (; , sometimes simply ''Ì'') is an island in the Inner Hebrides, off the Ross of Mull on the western coast of Scotland. It is mainly known for Iona Abbey, though there are other buildings on the island. Iona Abbey was a centre of Gaeli ...

and

Ardnamurchan Ardnamurchan (, ) is a peninsula in the ward management area of Lochaber, Highland, Scotland, noted for being very unspoiled and undisturbed. Its remoteness is accentuated by the main access route being a single track road for much of its l ...

. The island's thousands of breeding puffins, who allow visitors to approach to within a few feet of them, are the island's main attraction.

Footnotes

External links

Treshnish Isles Uninhabited islands of Argyll and Bute {{argyll-geo-stub