The Sea of the Hebrides ( gd, An Cuan Barrach, ) is a small, partly sheltered section of the
North Atlantic Ocean, indirectly off the southern part of the north-west coast of
Scotland. To the east are the mainland of Scotland and the northern
Inner Hebrides
The Inner Hebrides (; Scottish Gaelic: ''Na h-Eileanan a-staigh'', "the inner isles") is an archipelago off the west coast of mainland Scotland, to the south east of the Outer Hebrides. Together these two island chains form the Hebrides, whic ...
(including
Skye
The Isle of Skye, or simply Skye (; gd, An t-Eilean Sgitheanach or ; sco, Isle o Skye), is the largest and northernmost of the major islands in the Inner Hebrides of Scotland. The island's peninsulas radiate from a mountainous hub dominated b ...
and the
Small Isles); to the west are the southern
Outer Hebrides
The Outer Hebrides () or Western Isles ( gd, Na h-Eileanan Siar or or ("islands of the strangers"); sco, Waster Isles), sometimes known as the Long Isle/Long Island ( gd, An t-Eilean Fada, links=no), is an island chain off the west coast ...
islands, principally
South Uist,
Eriskay, and
Barra. To the north is the
Little Minch, a channel connecting it with
the Minch.
The Sea of the Hebrides forms part of the
Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland, as defined by the
International Hydrographic Organization, and part of the
Seas west of Scotland as far as fisheries management is concerned.
Ending on 30 August 2019, the
Scottish Government consulted on a proposal to designate the Sea of the Hebrides a
Marine Protected Area (MPA). The designation was confirmed in December 2020. The designated area of the MPA covers , mainly to protect the area's population of
basking sharks
The basking shark (''Cetorhinus maximus'') is the second-largest living shark and fish, after the whale shark, and one of three plankton-eating shark species, along with the whale shark and megamouth shark. Adults typically reach in length. ...
and
minke whales.
References
External links
Sea of the Hebrides MPA Summary Leaflet- Scottish Government
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sea Of The Hebrides
Scottish coast
Hebrides
Seas of the Atlantic Ocean
European seas
Bodies of water of Scotland
Marine Protected Areas of Scotland