Soyea Island or Soyea is an uninhabited rocky island at the mouth of

Loch Inver Loch Inver is a long sea loch in Assynt, Sutherland and is on the northwest coast of Scotland. The loch meets the coastal embayment of Enard Bay at the north end and The Minch, where it meets Soyea Island at its mouth. Geography At the head of ...

, in

Assynt Assynt ( gd, Asainn or ) is a sparsely populated area in the south-west of Sutherland, lying north of Ullapool on the west coast of Scotland. Assynt is known for its landscape and its remarkable mountains, which have led to the area, along with ...

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire (later ...

, in the council area of

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...

, Scotland. It is west of

Lochinver Lochinver (''Loch an Inbhir'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is a village that is located at the head of the sea loch Loch Inver, on the coast in the Assynt district of Sutherland, Scottish Highlands, Highland, Scotland. A few miles northeast is Loc ...

and south-southwest of

Achmelvich Achmelvich (Gaelic: ''Achadh Mhealbhaich'') is a settlement situated in the Highland region of Scotland. The name comes from the Gaelic "''Achadh''" - a plain or meadow and "''mealbhaich''" - sandy dunes.Ritchie, B. (1996) Making More of Assynt. ...

. The Broad Rocks extend up to from the eastern edge of Soyea Island. Measuring approximately from east to west, its area is and it rises to an elevation of . Soyea marks the entrance of the fishing harbour of Lochinver. Soyea Island has a yellow pedestal light on it.

History

The name "Soyea" is Old Norse and means "Sheep-isle" or "Sea island". In 1881 it was recorded as a pastoral islet. In the 1920s, Soyea had a colony of

Abraxas grossulariata ''Abraxas grossulariata'' is a moth of the family Geometridae, native to the Palearctic realm and North America. Its distinctive speckled coloration has given it a common name of magpie moth. The caterpillar is similarly coloured to the adult, ...

(magpie moths) which were rare on the mainland.

References

External links

* * Islands of Sutherland Uninhabited islands of Highland (council area) {{Highland-geo-stub