A visit to the Farne Islands in the breeding season July 2019
Boats sail from Seahouses to get to the Farne Islands. There are a range of different trips to choose from to suit all tastes.
The Farne Islands are a group of islands off the coast of Northumberland, England. There are between 15 and 20 islands depending on the state of the tide.[1] They are scattered about 1
1⁄2 to 4
3⁄4 miles (2.4-7.6 km) from the mainland, divided into two groups, the Inner Group and the Outer Group. The main islands in the Inner Group are Inner Farne, Knoxes Reef and the East and West Wideopens (all joined together on very low tides) and (somewhat separated) the Megstone; the main islands in the Outer Group are Staple Island, the Brownsman, North and South Wamses, Big Harcar and the Longstone. The two groups are separated by Staple Sound. The highest point, on Inner Farne, is 62 feet (19 m) above mean sea level.
The Farne Islands are associated with the story of Grace Darling and the wreck of the Forfarshire. Grace Darling was the daughter of Longstone lighthouse-keeper (one of the islands' lighthouses), William Darling, and on 7 September 1838, at the age of 22 years, she and her father rescued nine people from the wreck of the 'Forfarshire' in a strong gale and thick fog, the vessel having run aground on Harcar Rock. The story of the rescue attracted extraordinary attention throughout Britain and made Grace Darling a heroine who has gone down in British folklore
Farne Islands Wildlife
The Farne Islands and surrounding seas are an internationally important wildlife reserve. During the spring breeding season over 84,000 pairs of puffins, guillemots, razorbills, eider ducks, kittiwakes, fulmars, shags, Arctic, common and sandwich terns plus more make the various islands their temporary home. Gannets and roseate terns are regular visitors to feed in the rich seas surrounding the Farne Islands.
Throughout the year hundreds of grey seals can be seen basking on the rocks, and during the Autumn and Winter months the seal numbers swell to over 6,000 to 8,000.
Cetacean sightings are becoming more frequent too with good sightings of minke whale, harbour porpoise, bottlenose dolphins, common dolphin, white-beaked dolphin and basking sharks.
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18 сен 2024
