Isle of May

The Isle of May is located in the north of the outer Firth of Forth, approximately 8 km (5 miles) off the coast of Scotland. It is just 1.8 km long and less than half a kilometre wide. Since 1956 the isle has been dedicated as a "National Nature Reserve" and managed by the Nature Conservancy Council, now Scottish Natural Heritage, although until 1989 it was actually owned by the Northern Lighthouse Board. Because it is an important breeding site for seabirds and seals, the island is protected as part of the Forth Islands Special Protection Area.

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The visitor centre of the isle, the old Low Light lighthouse buildings, was founded as a bird observatory in 1934, the first such observatory in Scotland. During the height of the breeding season, over 200,000 seabirds of 12 species http://www.the-soc.zenwebhosting.com/isle-of-may-sites.htm nest on the island, including Puffins, Kittiwakes, Razorbills, Guillemots, Shags, Terns and Eider Duck.

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Most visitors to the island are daytrippers, although up to six visitors can stay at the observatory http://www.adrianwinter.clara.net/pages/iom_gallery.htm, usually for a week at a time. The only way to get there is by ferry, the journey taking 45 minutes from the small ports of Anstruther and Crail. The island is closed to visitors from 1 October until 1 May to prevent disturbance to the large number of seal pups.

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The so-called "Battle" of May Island took place nearby on the night of 31 January 1918. A sequence of accidental collisions between Royal Navy warships occurred over little more than an hour which saw two submarines sunk with heavy loss of life, another four damaged along with a light cruiser.

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The Navy maintained a control centre on the island for indicator loops and six asdic units laid on the seabed to detect U-boats and enemy surface vessels trying to enter the Forth from shortly before Second World War until 1946.

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Firth of Forth: The Firth of Forth is the estuary or firth of Scotland's River Forth, where it flows into the North Sea between Fife to the north, and West Lothian, the City of Edinburgh, and East Lothian to the south. The river is tidal as far inland as Stirling, but generally it is considered that the inland exte...

Scotland: :For other uses, see Scotland (disambiguation). See also British Isles (terminology)....

1956: 1956 was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar....

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