Little Linga, Orkney Islands
 Little Linga, Orkney | |
| Location | |
|---|---|
  Little Linga Little Linga shown within Orkney | |
| OS grid reference | HY 607 303 |
| Coordinates | 59°09′25″N 2°41′17″W / 59.157°N 2.688°W |
| Administration | |
| Country | Scotland |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Little Linga is a small uninhabited island in Orkney, Scotland. It lies off Links Ness, at the north-western point of the island of Stronsay, approximately 2 km (1.24 mi) north of Linga Holm.[1] Its bedrock consists of siltstone, mudstone and sandstone in the Caithness Flagstone Group. This is overlaid by sedimentary deposits which are glacigenic in origin.[2]
Little Linga is an important colony for the Atlantic grey seal,[3] with approximately 500 pups born on the island each autumn. The island also has a breeding population of around 80 pairs of cormorants, nesting on raised platforms of seaweed, and 200 pairs of fulmars.[4] On 21 June 2016, the island was acquired by the Scottish Wildlife Trust from the Ferne Animal Sanctuary, which had owned it for more than 25 years, to protect it as a seal sanctuary.[4]
The island has been inhabited in the past,[5] with two prehistoric house-sites remaining.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Little Linga". The Gazetteer for Scotland. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
- ↑ "Little Linga, Orkney, Scotland, GBR". BGS Geology Viewer. British Geological Survey.
- ↑ McConnell, B. (1985). "Seals in Orkney". Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Section B Biological Sciences. 87 (1–2): 95–104. doi:10.1017/S0269727000004188.
- 1 2 "New reserve in the Orkney Islands". Scottish Wildlife Trust. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 6 August 2026.
- ↑ "Field visit, August 1983". trove.scot. Historic Environment Scotland.
- ↑ Lamb, Raymond (February 1984). "Archaeology" (PDF). Newsletter. Orkney Heritage Society: 9.
Even the minuscule islet of Little Linga turns out to have two prehistoric house-sites which raises interesting problems of the means of subsistence; was it sealing?