Oban nam-Fiadh

A brackish lagoon in the south of North Uist in the Outer Hebrides, Oban nam-Fiadh is a substantial inlet within Loch Eport, its entrance partially blocked by a series of rubble sills. It comprises a succession of basin and pools linking the freshwater Loch Caravat with the head of Loch Eport and occupies hollows which were scoured out of the bedrock by glacial action and later invaded by saltwater when sea levels rose after the Ice Age.

The loch forms the largest part of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designated in 1997 and comprising three rock-silled saline lagoons around Loch Eport, which each represent a distinctive marine habitat rare in Europe outside the Western Isles and Shetland. The salinity of the loch increases from southeast to northwest and this is mirrored by a flora which varies from reeds (Phragmites australis) to seaweeds.


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