Loch Morar

Loch Morar
	Eastern section of the lake
Geographical location	Highland , Scotland
Tributaries	v. a. Meoble
Drain	Morar → Sea of the Hebrides ( Scottish Sea )
	Data
Coordinates	56 ° 56 '59 " N , 5 ° 39' 7" W Coordinates: 56 ° 56 '59 " N , 5 ° 39' 7" W.
Altitude above sea level	10 m ASL
surface	26.7 km²
volume	2.3 km³
Maximum depth	310 m
Middle deep	87 m
particularities	Deepest lake in the British Isles.

Loch Morar ( Scottish Gaelic : Loch Mhòrair ) is a freshwater lake on the west coast of the Scottish Highlands. It is located in the Unitary Authority Highland and, with a maximum water depth of 310 m, is the deepest lake in the British Isles.

description

Loch Morar has the typical elongated shape of a lake created by glaciers in the Ice Age . It is about 19 km long, but on average only about 1 km wide. It has a water volume of 2.3 km³ and is - measured on the surface of 26.7 km² - the fifth largest lake in Scotland.

Loch Morar gets its water from numerous rivers and streams that flow into the lake on all sides. The largest tributaries are Meoble , which feeds the lake with water from Loch Bearaid , and Abhainn Taodhail and Abhainn Ceann-loch-morar . Loch Morar drains at its western end over the Morar , which flows into the Hebridean Sea after about one kilometer near the town of the same name . The catchment area of Loch Morar is quite small compared to other Scottish lakes of similar size at 142 km². The water in the lake is accordingly relatively poor in nutrients, but due to the remoteness of the lake it is almost completely free of impurities.

The enormous depth of the lake and its proximity to the Atlantic create a special microclimate near the shore. The winters at Loch Morar are mild and the summers are cool. This effect is caused on the one hand by the proximity to the sea. On the other hand, the deep water in the lake itself also has a balancing effect. It cools less in winter than it does in shallower lakes and warms up accordingly less in summer. Loch Morar only occasionally freezes near the shore in winter, but not in the deeper parts of the lake.

Brinacory Island

There are several uninhabited - in most cases heavily forested - islands in the lake. To the west of Loch Morar is an archipelago of five larger islands and some only a few square meters. The five larger islands are called Eilean Ban , An t-Eilean Meadhion , Eilean nam Breac, Eilean Ghibbi and Eilean a'´ Phidhir . About in the middle of the lake are the islands of Brinacory Island and Eilean Allmha . To the far east is Eilean nan Reithean . Loch Morar is an angling area that is mainly fished from boats. The main catches are trout and salmon .

Loch Morar is located in an extremely sparsely populated area. The southern shore of the lake is completely uninhabited today. On the north bank there are only two small villages in the west, Bracora and Bracorina , which both consist of only a few farms. The eastern part of the north bank is also uninhabited. On the west bank of the lake is Morar, a somewhat larger village that can be easily reached by train and car. Loch Morar is only accessible to the west by a well-developed road, the A830 . From there, a small cul-de-sac leads along the northern shore of the lake for a while, but ends after a few kilometers just after Bracorina . The other sections of the bank cannot be reached by car. However, this seclusion from Loch Morar did not exist in earlier centuries. Rather, it is the result of the Highland Clearances , the widespread introduction of sheep breeding and the migration of the population from the area that is not very suitable for agriculture.

Sea monsters

As in the case of Loch Ness , there are occasional reports of a sea monster believed to live in Loch Morar. The alleged sea monster is named Mhorag and is said to be the same being as Nessie . According to legend, the sighting of Mhorag heralds the death of a member of the local branch of the MacDonald clan . It is also claimed that Loch Morar is said to be connected, by a maze of underground passages, to the lakes and rivers in the Great Glen , including Loch Ness.

Trivia

Loch Morar is the setting for two booklet novels from the series Geisterjäger John Sinclair by the German author Jason Dark : Volumes 56 and 57 ("Das Ungeheuer von Loch Morar" and "The Zombies ") are about a demonic sea monster named Ogur, who is up to mischief there and lives in caves under the lake.

Web links

Commons : Loch Morar - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files