Stac Lee
| Stac Lee | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
  Stac Lee | |
| OS grid reference | NA142049 |
| Names | |
| Meaning of name | "ly": shelter |
| Area and summit | |
| Area | 2.3 ha (6 acres) |
| Highest elevation | 172 m (564 ft) |
| Population | |
| Population | 0 |
| Groupings | |
| Island group | St Kilda |
| Local Authority | Outer Hebrides |
  | |
| References | [1][2][3] |
Stac Lee (Scottish Gaelic: Stac Lì) is a sea stack in the St Kilda group, Scotland. An island Marilyn, it is home to part of the world's largest colony of Northern Gannet.
Geography and geology
Martin Martin called the island "Stac-Ly";[2] other sources call it "Stac Lii."[citation needed]
Stac Lee is located in the North Atlantic and forms part of the St Kilda archipelago of the Outer Hebrides. Lying in the north east of the St Kilda group, Stac Lee is around 7 km (4 mi) north east of Hirta, the main island, and 550 m (600 yards) west of the west cape of the island of Boreray.
Administratively, Stac Lee is part of the Na h-Eileanan Siar.
Topography
Stac Lee is a precipitous sea stack, i.e. a detached escarpment, 172 metres (564 ft) high.[3] Other sources give an altitude of 165 metres (541 ft),[4] or 220 metres (722 ft) above the sea bed.[citation needed] Having a prominence greater than 150 metres (492 ft), it is a Marilyn.
The nearby Stac an Armin reaches 196 metres (643 ft), making them the highest sea stacks in Britain.[4][5]
Seen from the south, the rock appears as an imposing cliff as broad as high, while from the west it has the aspect of a thin needle with a top bevelled at an angle of 45°. The most impressive view is that obtained from the south-east, from where Stac Lee looks like a giant hook.
Wildlife
St Kilda has the world's largest colony of Northern Gannet, with an estimated 60,000 breeding pairs on Boreray, Stac an Armin and Stac Lee.[6] An estimated six thousand pairs nest on Stac Lee, their droppings turning the island white.[citation needed]
A small bothy on Stac Lee was formerly used by St Kildan fowlers. It is big enough to accommodate two people and is dry inside. The St Kildans would land here by lassoing an iron peg, and then jumping when the swell rose up.
See also
Gallery
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Stac Lee (right) and Boreray
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Stac an Àrmainn with Boreray to the left and Stac Lee beyond at right
Footnotes
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Stac Lee. |
- ↑ 2001 UK Census per List of islands of Scotland.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004). The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh: Canongate. ISBN 978-1-84195-454-7.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Ordnance Survey.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "St Kilda: Fascinating Facts". National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 6 January 2007.
- ↑ Heights from Haswell-Smith (2004); National Trust website states 191 metres & 165 metres respectively.
- ↑ "Gannet - The bird with a crash helmet". National Trust for Scotland. Retrieved 7 June 2009.
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Coordinates: 57°52′03″N 8°30′06″W / 57.86750°N 8.50167°W