Hole of Spiggie
| Hole of Spiggie | ||
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| Loch of Spiggie with fishing boats | ||
| Geographical location | Mainland , Shetland Islands , Scotland | |
| Tributaries | Burn of Hillwell from the Loch of Brow , Burn of Scousburgh | |
| Drain | Beach of Spiggie → Atlantic | |
| Data | ||
| Coordinates | 59 ° 56 ′ 15 ″ N , 1 ° 20 ′ 19 ″ W | |
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| Altitude above sea level | 1 m ASL | |
| surface | 0.9 km² | |
| length | 2.1 km | |
| width | 700 m | |
| volume | 0.003 km³ | |
| Maximum depth | 14 m | |
Loch of Spiggie is a Scottish freshwater lake on the Shetland island of Mainland . The lake is located almost at the southern end of the main island in the immediate vicinity of the coast. The maximum length of the lake is 2.1 km, the maximum width is 0.7 km. Compared to other Scottish lochs, the Loch of Spiggie is very shallow with a maximum water depth of around 14 meters. There are no islands in the lake. The Loch of Spiggie is located in a very sparsely populated area. There are no towns on the shore of the lake. However, it can be easily reached by car via a side road from the B9122.
The Loch of Spiggie was once part of a fjord , Scousburgh Bay. It was separated from this bay by the accumulation of sand dunes, so that the Loch of Spiggie changed from a salt water inlet into a fresh water lake.
Because of its abundance of birds, the Loch of Spiggie and the neighboring Loch of Brow have been a nature reserve since 1997, operated by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. Loch Spiggie is a major wintering area for Icelandic whooper swans . In addition, the lake is also used as a fishing area, where mainly trout are caught.
