SPA description
(information as published 2001)
Sule Skerry and Sule Stack
The two small and remote islands of Sule Skerry and Sule Stack
lie in the North Atlantic, west of Orkney. Sule Skerry is about 60
km from Orkney, while Sule Stack is another 8 km to the south-west.
Sule Skerry is the larger of the two islands, covering about 16 ha,
and is low-lying and covered by peaty soil with rocky outcrops.
Vegetation is limited by the combination of salt spray and seabird
activity. Sule Stack is a higher, bare rock with no vascular
plants. The islands provide strategically placed nesting localities
for large numbers of seabirds which feed in the waters off the
north coast of Scotland outside the SPA. They also hold a diverse
assemblage of largely pelagic species, including large numbers of
petrels, auks and Gannet Morus bassanus. It is one of only
seven known nesting localities in the EU for Leach's Petrel
Oceanodroma leucorhoa.
Qualifying species
For individual species accounts visit the Species
Accounts section
This site qualifies under Article 4.1 of the
Directive (79/409/EEC) by supporting populations of European
importance of the following species listed on Annex I of the
Directive:
During the breeding season;
Leach's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa, 5 pairs
representing at least 0.0% of the breeding population in Great
Britain (Count, as at 1986)
Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus, 1,000 pairs
representing at least 1.2% of the breeding population in Great
Britain (Count, as at 1986)
This site also qualifies under Article 4.2 of
the Directive (79/409/EEC) by supporting populations of European
importance of the following migratory species:
During the breeding season;
Gannet Morus bassanus, 4,890 pairs representing at
least 1.9% of the breeding North Atlantic population (Count, as at
1994)
Puffin Fratercula arctica, 43,380 pairs representing
at least 4.8% of the breeding population (Count, as at 1993)
Assemblage qualification: A seabird assemblage of
international importance
The area qualifies under Article 4.2 of the
Directive (79/409/EEC) by regularly supporting at least 20,000
seabirds
During the breeding season, the area regularly supports
100,000 individual seabirds including: Leach's Storm-petrel
Oceanodroma leucorhoa, Guillemot Uria aalge, Shag
Phalacrocorax aristotelis, Puffin Fratercula
arctica, Gannet Morus bassanus, Storm Petrel
Hydrobates pelagicus.
Note:
Many designated sites are on private land: the listing of
a site in these pages does not imply any right of public
access.
Note that sites selected for waterbird species on the basis of
their occurrence in the breeding, passage or winter periods also
provide legal protection for these species when they occur at other
times of the year.