Broadscale mapping of sublittoral habitats in the Sound of Barra: north east of Barra

This map covers the area in the south of the Sound of Barra, at the northeastern corner of Barra (from Traigh Mhor to near Loch Obe). The Sound of Barra has been selected as a possible Special Area of Conservation (PSAC) on the basis of the nationally important colony of common seals, Phoca vitulina, and also for the wide variety of habitats associated with shallow?sandbanks which are slightly covered by seawater all the time?. A number of the Sandbank habitats are of considerable conservation value, most notably the extensive beds of the eelgrass Zostera marina and tide-swept maerl beds composed of the coralline red alga Phymatolithon calcareum. A comprehensive biotope mapping survey of the sublittoral habitats within the Sound was undertaken in August 2001, by a collaborative research group from the University of St Andrews, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh University and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). This information supplemented the existing knowledge on the distribution of marine communities within the Sound of Barra PSAC and all this information was synthesised into a series of biotope classification maps.