The Wildlife Map of the Hebrides

41. Vatersay

This H shaped island is now connected to Barra by a recently built causeway. The strip of land connecting the two main sections of Vatersay is machair, with beaches on both sides. The Princes Flower, sea convolvulus, is also found here. The beach on the east coast is one of the safest in Barra for swimming but the western beaches are too exposed. There is a monument here to the Annie Jane, an emigrant ship bound for Quebec, which was wrecked here in September 1853, with over 400 people on board, of whom over 300 perished.