Loch Fyne - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Loch Fyne is a sea loch on the west coast of Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute

Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

. It extends 65 kilometres (40.4 mi) inland from the Sound of Bute

Sound of Bute

The Sound of Bute is a broad channel or sound separating the islands of Arran and Bute on the west coast of Scotland.The sound leads up from the lower Firth of Clyde passes the island of Inchmarnock and splits into the Kyles of Bute, Loch Fyne and round the north end of Arran into the Kilbrannan...

, making it the longest of the sea lochs. It is connected to the Sound of Jura

Sound of Jura

The Sound of Jura is a strait in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The Gaelic name means "Sound of Disappointment". It is one of the several Sounds of Scotland....

by the Crinan Canal

Crinan Canal

The Crinan canal is a canal in the west of Scotland. It takes its name from the village of Crinan at its westerly end. Nine miles long, it connects the village of Ardrishaig on Loch Gilp with the Sound of Jura, providing a navigable route between the Clyde and the Inner Hebrides, without the need...

.

Loch Fyne is notable for its oyster

Oyster

The word oyster is used as a common name for a number of distinct groups of bivalve molluscs which live in marine or brackish habitats. The valves are highly calcified....

fishery, and as a consequence the loch has given its name to the locally owned Loch Fyne Oysters

Loch Fyne Oysters

Loch Fyne Oysters is a company which has expanded from farming and selling oysters to providing a range of seafoods, fish, meat and game. It founded the Loch Fyne restaurant chain which is now owned by Greene King; it still owns the Loch Fyne brand and supplies its products to the restaurant chain...

, and the associated Loch Fyne Restaurants

Loch Fyne Restaurants

Loch Fyne Restaurants is a chain of 38 seafood restaurants in the United Kingdom owned and operated by Greene King plc.-History:The company takes its name from Loch Fyne, a sea loch on the west coast of Scotland...

. It is also notable for its herring

Herring

Herring is an oily fish of the genus Clupea, found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific and the North Atlantic oceans, including the Baltic Sea. Three species of Clupea are recognized. The main taxa, the Atlantic herring and the Pacific herring may each be divided into subspecies...

fishing industry, and hence the famous Loch Fyne Kipper, originally caught using the drift-net method. In the mid-19th century, Loch Fyne was the centre of the battle between the traditional drift-net fishermen and the new trawl-net fishermen who sprung up around Tarbert

Tarbert

Tarbert is a place name in Scotland and Ireland. Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, or isthmus...

and Campbeltown

Campbeltown

Campbeltown is a town and former royal burgh in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It lies by Campbeltown Loch on the Kintyre peninsula. Originally known as Kinlochkilkerran , it was renamed in the 17th century as Campbell's Town after Archibald Campbell was granted the site in 1667...

in 1833.

Loch Fyne is a popular area for sport diving

Scuba diving

Scuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....

and fishing. It is also a popular tourist destination with attractions such as Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle

Inveraray Castle is an estate house near Inveraray in Argyll in western Scotland.It is the seat of the Duke of Argyll and a Category A listed building.-Ghosts:...

and the nearby ruins of Castle MacEwan and Castle Lachlan.

Several Scottish sea fishing records have been set in the Loch:

Species	Weight	Angler / Date
Dogfish Black Mouthed	02-13-08	J. H. Anderson, 1977 (Boat)
Poor Cod	01-00-00	F. Johnstone, 1970 (Shore)
Tadpole Fish	01-04-00	H. Donnelly, 1995 (Shore)
Blue Whiting	01-12-00	J. H. Anderson, 1977 (Boat)

The village of Portavadie

Portavadie

Portavadie is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland.The Portavadie complex was built with the help of local labour from the fishing village 'Tarbert' that lay due west across Loch Fyne. The locals from Tarbert who worked there were told that oil had been found on the west shores Loch...

is on the east shore of the loch. A passenger ferry traverses the loch to Tarbert

Tarbert

Tarbert is a place name in Scotland and Ireland. Places named Tarbert are characterised by a narrow strip of land, or isthmus...

from the slipway at Portavadie.

Dolphin

Dolphin

Dolphins are marine mammals that are closely related to whales and porpoises. There are almost forty species of dolphin in 17 genera. They vary in size from and , up to and . They are found worldwide, mostly in the shallower seas of the continental shelves, and are carnivores, mostly eating...

s, seal

Pinniped

Pinnipeds or fin-footed mammals are a widely distributed and diverse group of semiaquatic marine mammals comprising the families Odobenidae , Otariidae , and Phocidae .-Overview: Pinnipeds are typically sleek-bodied and barrel-shaped...

s and otter

Otter

The Otters are twelve species of semi-aquatic mammals which feed on fish and shellfish, and also other invertebrates, amphibians, birds and small mammals....

s inhabit the loch, and basking shark

Basking shark

The basking shark is the second largest living fish, after the whale shark. It is a cosmopolitan migratory species, found in all the world's temperate oceans. It is a slow moving and generally harmless filter feeder and has anatomical adaptations to filter feeding, such as a greatly enlarged...

s can be found in its waters during the summer months. A Ross's Gull

Ross's Gull

The Ross's Gull is a small gull, the only species in its genus, although it has been suggested it should be moved to the genus Hydrocoloeus, which otherwise only includes the Little Gull....

was present at the loch in early 2007.

In the north the terrain is mountainous, with the Arrochar Alps

Arrochar Alps

The Arrochar Alps are a group of mountains located around the head of Loch Long, Loch Fyne,and Loch Goil, near the villages of Arrochar and Lochgoilhead in Argyll, Scotland. The mountains are especially popular with hillwalkers, due to their proximity and accessibility from Glasgow...

, Beinn Bhuidhe, Glen Shira

Glen Shira

Glen Shira is a glen within Argyll at the northern end of Loch Fyne, just to the north of Inveraray. It is named after the River Shira, which runs through the centre down from a damn in the northern end, to the dubh loch at the base of the glen.The Glen is mostly taken up by a sheep farm, run by a...

, Glen Fyne, Glen Croe

Glen Croe

Glen Croe is a glen in the heart of the Arrochar Alps surrounded by large and rugged mountains characterised by huge boulders.-Geography:Glen Croe is located to the north west of Loch Lomond and Loch Long, draining into the latter. At the head of the glen is the pass leading to Glen Kinglas...

, Arrochar

Arrochar

Arrochar can refer to:* Arrochar, Argyll and Bute, Scotland** Arrochar and Tarbet railway station** Arrochar Alps, Argyll and Bute, a group of small mountains* Arrochar, Staten Island, New York** Arrochar...

, Tyndrum

Tyndrum

Tyndrum is a small village in Scotland. Its Gaelic name translates as "the house on the ridge". It lies in Strathfillan, at the southern edge of Rannoch Moor.The village is notable mainly for being at an important crossroads of transport routes...

and Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond

Loch Lomond is a freshwater Scottish loch, lying on the Highland Boundary Fault. It is the largest lake in Great Britain by surface area. The lake contains many islands, including Inchmurrin, the largest fresh-water island in the British Isles, although the lake itself is smaller than many Irish...

nearby.

Around a quarter of a million troops were trained at HMS Quebec

HMS Quebec

Three ships and a shore establishment of the Royal Navy have borne the name HMS Quebec, after the city of Quebec in Canada:Ships was a 32-gun fifth rate launched in 1760 and blown up in action with French in 1779. was a schooner purchased in 1775 and wrecked later that year...

, No.1 Combined Training Centre, Inveraray in amphibious landing

Amphibious vehicle

An amphibious vehicle , is a vehicle or craft, that is a means of transport, viable on land as well as on water – just like an amphibian....

techniques on the shores of Loch Fyne prior to the D-day landings.

External links

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