View source for Loch Morar

{{Short description|Lake in Lochaber, Scotland}}
{{For|the steamship|SS Loch Morar}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox body of water
 | name = Loch Morar
 | image = Loch Morar.jpg
 | caption = The shallower western end of the loch
 | alt = A lake with islands in the middle and hills on either side
 | image_bathymetry = 
 | caption_bathymetry = 
 | location           = {{gbmappingsmall|NM76129087}} 
<!--- | coords = {{coord|56|56|30|N|5|40|21|W|region:GB_type:waterbody|display=inline,title}}-->
 | type =  freshwater [[loch]], [[dimictic]], [[oligotroph]]ic
 | inflow = [[River Meoble]]
 | outflow = [[River Morar]]
 | catchment = {{convert|168|km2}}
 | basin_countries = Scotland
 | length = {{convert|18.8|km|abbr=on}}
 | width = {{cvt|2.35|km|mi}}<ref name="bathy"/>
 | area = {{convert|26.7|km2|abbr=on}}
 | depth = {{convert|284|ft|disp=flip}}
 | max-depth = {{convert|1017|ft|abbr=on|disp=flip}}
 | volume = {{convert|81482000000|ft3|km3|disp=flip}}
| shore              = {{cvt|59|km|mi}}<ref name="britlakes"/>
 | elevation = {{convert|14|m}}
 | residence_time =
 | islands = 
 | cities = 
 | pushpin_map             = Scotland Lochaber
  | pushpin_label_position  = left
  | pushpin_map_alt         = 
  | pushpin_map_caption     = Location in Lochaber
 | coordinates             = {{coord|56|57|00|N|5|40|20|W|region:GB|display=inline,title}}
 | coor_pinpoint           = 
  }}

'''Loch Morar''' ({{langx|gd|Loch Mòrair}}) is a freshwater [[loch]] in the [[Rough Bounds]] of [[Lochaber]], [[Highland (council area)|Highland]], [[Scotland]].<ref name="britlakes">{{cite web |title=Loch Morar|url=https://eip.ceh.ac.uk/apps/lakes/detail.html?wbid=21466 |website=Centre for Ecology and Hydrology |publisher=Scotland and Northern Ireland Forum for Environmental Research (SNIFFER) |access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref> It is the fifth-largest loch by surface area in Scotland, at {{convert|26.7|km2|abbr=on}}, and the deepest freshwater body in the [[British Isles]] with a maximum depth of {{convert|1017|ft|abbr=on|disp=flip}}. The loch was created by glacial action around 10,000 years ago, and has a surface elevation of {{convert|9|m}} above sea level. It separates the traditional district of [[North Morar]] (which contains the village of [[Morar]]), from [[Arisaig]] and [[Moidart]].

==Geography==
[[File:View from Druim a' Chuirn ridge - geograph.org.uk - 855761.jpg|thumb|left|Loch Morar, and North Morar, with Loch Nevis in the distance, and [[Knoydart]] and [[Skye]] beyond that]]
Loch Morar is {{convert|18.8|km}} long, has a surface area of {{convert|26.7|km2|abbr=on}}, and is the deepest freshwater body in the [[British Isles]] with a maximum depth of {{convert|1017|ft|abbr=on|disp=flip}}.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKNnAAAAMAAJ |title=Lochaber: a historical guide |first=Paula |last=Martin |year=2005 |publisher=Birlinn |page=xix |isbn=978-1-84158-241-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cdqEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |title=The Landscape of Britain |first=Michael |last=Reed |page=21 |isbn=978-1-134-72804-6 |year=2002 |publisher=Routledge}}</ref> In 1910, John Murray and Laurence Pullar found it to have a mean depth of {{convert|284|ft|disp=flip}} and a total volume of {{convert|81482000000|ft3|km3|disp=flip}} during their survey of Scottish lochs.<ref name="bathy">{{cite book |last1=John |first1=Murray |last2=Lawrence |first2=Pullar|title=Bathymetrical Survey of the Fresh-Water Lochs of Scotland, 1897–1909 Lochs of the Morar Basin Volume II – Loch Osgaig|url=http://maps.nls.uk/bathymetric/text.cfm?cid=37374 |access-date= 25 June 2023|page=197}}{{PD-notice}}</ref> The bottom is deepened below the [[United Kingdom Continental Shelf]], and until 1943, when a depth of {{convert|1063|ft|disp=flip}} was observed in the [[Inner Sound, Scotland|Inner Sound]], it was believed to be the deepest water in the United Kingdom.<ref name=tay>{{Cite journal |doi=10.1080/00369224908735399 |title=Deep clefts in the inner sound of Raasay |journal=Scottish Geographical Magazine |volume=65 |pages=20–25 |year=1949 |last1=Robinson |first1=A. H. W.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4RRaAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA58 |page=58 |title=The British Isles |year=2013 |first=Frederick |last=Mort |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-63281-3 |orig-year=1914}}</ref> The surface of the loch is {{convert|9|m}} above sea level.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dyM2kv5r7-gC&pg=PA464 |title=The Biology of Loch Ness |journal=New Scientist |issue=1345 |pages=462–467 |date=17 February 1983 |volume=80 |issn=0262-4079 |first=Adrian |last=Shine |access-date=25 September 2020 |archive-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231003043933/https://books.google.com/books?id=dyM2kv5r7-gC&pg=PA464#v=onepage&q&f=false |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The water of the loch is clear and [[oligotroph]]ic, with a minimal intake of nutrients, making it a [[Site of Special Scientific Interest]] (SSSI).<ref name=coll/><ref name=fp>{{Cite web| title=Lochaber Fisheries Management Plan 2008 | url=http://www.rafts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Lochaber-Fisheries-Management-Plan.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140730033007/http://www.rafts.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/Lochaber-Fisheries-Management-Plan.pdf | archive-date=2014-07-30}}</ref> The main inflow is the [[River Meoble]] on the southern side, which drains from [[Loch Beoraid]], although there are three other major inflows at the eastern end of the loch and a stream draining a complex of lochans to the north-west of Loch Morar.<ref name=coll/><ref name=gmap/> The outflow is the [[River Morar]] at the western end, which at a few hundred metres long is one of the shortest rivers in the British Isles.<ref name=coll/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst3181.html |title=Morar, River |publisher=scottish-places.info |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref> At the shallower western end of the loch, there are a number of sizeable forested islands.<ref name=gmap>{{Google maps |url=https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@56.9603146,-5.6298173,12z |title=Loch Morar |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref><ref name=nlsmap>{{cite map |url=http://maps.nls.uk/view/74422165 |title=Loch Morar |publisher=[[National Library of Scotland]] |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>

At the western end of the loch is the village of [[Morar]], which is between [[Arisaig]] and [[Mallaig]] on the coastal [[A830 road]]. The settlements of [[Bracorina]] and Bracara are located along the northern shore of the loch, but there is no road along the southern shore.<ref name=gmap/> [[Tarbet, Loch Nevis|Tarbet]], on the shore of [[Loch Nevis]], is a short distance from Loch Morar.<ref name=gmap/>

==Folklore==
[[File:Sron Ghaothar on Loch Morar - geograph.org.uk - 190066.jpg|thumb|right|The banks of the loch are steep at the eastern end]]
According to the posthumously published [[dictionary]] of the [[Scottish Gaelic language]] collected by Fr. [[Allan MacDonald (poet)|Allan MacDonald]] (1859–1905), "Loch Morar is said to be blessed by St. [[Columba]] and is called ({{langx|gd|Tobar Chaluim Chille}}), 'St. Columba's Well'. It is safe to drink its water though in the greatest heat and perspiration. It does not freeze. The only ice seen about it is at the foot of the mountain streams flowing into it." In relation to Loch Morar's traditional veneration as a [[holy well]], MacDonald also collected, "a story of a young woman who had lost her hair which grew again after she had bathed her head in the Loch."<ref>Collected by Fr. Allan MacDonald (1958, 1972, 1991), ''Gaelic Words from [[South Uist]] and [[Eriskay]]'' – Edited, [[Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies]]. Edited and with a foreword by [[John Lorne Campbell]]. Second edition with supplement, published by the [[Oxford University Press]]. p. 243.</ref>

In common with [[Loch Ness]], occasional reports of large unidentified creatures in the loch's waters are made. The [[lake monster|loch monster]] has been dubbed [[Morag (loch monster)|Mòrag]].<ref name=Morag>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H82nPAAACAAJ |last1=Campbell |first1=Elizabeth Montgomery |first2=David John |last2=Solomon |title=The Search for Morag |publisher=Tom Stacey |year=1972 |isbn=978-0-85468-093-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lochmorar.org.uk/wildlife/cryptozoology/ |title=Cryptozoology |publisher=lochmorar.org.uk |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Eilean Bàn - geograph.org.uk - 2548436.jpg|left|thumb|Eilean Bàn in Loch Morar, as it appears today.]]
The island in Loch Morar known as Eilean Bàn was traditionally used by the local population as grazing for their cattle herds and was, until trees began being planted in the 19th-century, completely bare of the "dense, barely penetrable growth of timber", that covers the island today.<ref>John Watts (2004), ''Hugh MacDonald: Highlander, Jacobite, Bishop'', [[Birlinn Limited|John Donald Press]]. pp. 31-32.</ref> The same island was briefly the location first of a [[Mass rock|Mass stone]] and then of an [[Underground education|illegal and clandestine]] Catholic [[minor seminary]] founded by Bishop [[James Gordon (vicar apostolic)|James Gordon]], until the [[Jacobite rising of 1715]] forced its closure and eventual reopening at [[Scalan]] in [[Glenlivet]].<ref>Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, pp. 88-89.</ref> Even long afterwards, Eilean Bàn remained a secret chapel and library for Bishop Gordon's successors.<ref>John Watts (2004), ''Hugh MacDonald: Highlander, Jacobite, Bishop'', [[Birlinn Limited|John Donald Press]]. pp. 31-32.</ref> According to [[Strathglass]] historian Flora Forbes, however, "a Catholic chapel at this time anywhere throughout the Highlands was usually a barn-like structure, with no windows and a mud floor."<ref> [http://www.eskadale.org/strathglass.html The Part Played by the People of Strathglass in the Survival and Revival of the Faith in the Highlands] by Flora Forbes (written for the 150th Anniversary of St Mary's Church in Eskadale, in 1977).</ref>

After the [[Battle of Culloden]], a combined force of [[Royal Navy]] sailors under the command of Captain John Fergussone of {{HMS|Furnace|1740|6}} and Captain Duff of {{HMS|Terror|1741|6}} and troops from the [[Campbell of Argyll Militia]] portaged over nine miles of uncharted, rough, and previously thought to be impassable terrain. They were seeking to capture Bishop [[Hugh MacDonald (vicar apostolic of the Highland District)|Hugh MacDonald]], the underground [[Catholic Church in Scotland|Roman Catholic]] [[Vicar General]] of the Highland District, and high-ranking local [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite Army]] veterans, mainly from [[Clan Donald]], who were correctly suspected of meeting together at the library, former seminary, and Catholic chapel on Eilean Bàn in Loch Morar on 8 June 1746.<ref name="Odo Blundell 1917 pp. 95-99">Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, pp. 95-99.</ref>

According to a later report for the [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle]], "Upon their arrival at the lake, they immediately spread themselves opposite to the Isle, and in full view of the rebels thereon; who, concluding themselves quite free from danger, fired on our people, at the same time calling them by insulting and opprobrious names, being near enough to be heard. This exultation, however, was quickly at an end; for the King's ships having sailed round to that part of the coast where their boats had little more than a mile to be carried overland to the lake... the rebels immediately lost all courage..."<ref>Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, pp. 96-97.</ref>

Although the Bishop and the Jacobite leaders managed to quickly row from Eilean Bàn to the loch shore and "escaped into the mountains", according the same report for the [[Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle]], when the government soldiers and sailors arrived upon Eilean Bàn, "They found the before-named Popish bishop's house and chapel; which the sailors quickly gutted and [[Church arson|demolished]], merrily adorning themselves with the spoils of the chapel. In the scramble, a great many books and papers were tossed about and destroyed."<ref>Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, p. 97.</ref>

Some of the chapel and seminary foundation stones are still visibly upon Eilean Bàn. Watts has termed the 8 June 1746 [[book burning]] and the destruction of most of Bishop MacDonald personal papers, "an irreplaceable loss both for the eighteenth-century [[Catholic Church in Scotland|Church]] and the scholar of today."<ref>John Watts (2004), ''Hugh MacDonald: Highlander, Jacobite, Bishop'', [[Birlinn Limited|John Donald Press]]. pp. 117.</ref>

[[File:Our Lady of Perpetual Succour & St Cumin, Morar.jpg|left|thumb|Roman Catholic Church of Our Lady and St Cumin, [[Morar]].]]
At least some items, though, are believed to have been removed from Eilean Bàn in time. In 1917, Dom Odo Blundell of [[Fort Augustus Abbey]] wrote, "At Morar chapel-house is preserved a set of green vestments, with red and white intermingled, bearing the date 1745. It still has its original lining; there is also an altar front to match it. These were probably brought over from France by the adherents of [[Prince Charles Edward Stuart|Prince Charlie]], and must have been part of the furnishings of the chapel on the island, though it is not known how they were saved when the building was ransacked and burned in 1746. The same remarks apply to the old chalice, which bears the inscription, ''Ad usum Pr Fr Vincenti Mariani, Missri Scot. Ord. Praedic. Anno 1658''. This chalice, which is of silver, is very small indeed; it has its paten to match. Unfortunately, we have no further information regarding this early missioner. In the list of priests for 1668 it is stated that there were three [[Dominican Order|Dominicans]] on this mission. Father Vincent was apparently one of these; the others being Father George Fanning - long in the Isle of [[Barra]] and [[Patrick Primrose|Father Primrose]] - who died in prison in 1671."<ref>Odo Blundell (1917), ''The Catholic Highlands of Scotland'', Volume II, p. 114.</ref>

Following the action, however, Capt. John Fergussone suspected "that [[Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat|Lord Lovat]]'s lameness must have rendered it utterly impracticable for him to travel in so rugged a country", and the crew of HMS ''Furnace'' accordingly continued meticulously searching inside the caves surrounding the Loch, "for three days and nights". They eventually, as Capt. Fergussone had expected, succeeded in capturing Lord Lovat, who was hiding inside a cave in nearby [[Glen Meoble]].<ref name="Odo Blundell 1917 pp. 95-99"/><ref>John S. Gibson (1967), ''Ships of the Forty-Five: The Rescue of the Young Pretender'', [[Hutchinson & Co.]] London. With a [[Preface]] by Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, Bart., L.L.D. pp. 53-54.</ref>

[[Image:Simon Fraser, 11th Baron Lovat by William Hogarth.jpg|thumb|right|225px|[[Scottish clan chief|Chief]] of [[Clan Fraser of Lovat|Clan Fraser]] and senior [[Jacobite Army (1745)|Jacobite Army]] leader [[Simon Fraser, 11th Lord Lovat]], sketched by [[William Hogarth]] after his capture at Loch Morar and shortly before being tried for [[high treason in the United Kingdom|high treason]] before his peers in the [[House of Lords]] and afterwards executed by [[beheading]] on [[Tower Hill]].]]
In his naval history of the Jacobite rising and its aftermath, historian John S. Gibson commented about the capture of Lord Lovat at Loch Morar, "[[London]], which, with the events of the past year, had come to abhor highlanders, could scarcely have been more elated had [[Prince Charles Edward Stuart|Charles Edward]] himself been caught. A small mythology was quick to grow up about the circumstances of his capture, as in the contemporary print of Fergussone and the soldiers of Guise's bursting in on the aged peer disguised as an old woman."<ref>John S. Gibson (1967), ''Ships of the Forty-Five: The Rescue of the Young Pretender'', [[Hutchinson & Co.]] London. With a [[Preface]] by Sir James Fergusson of Kilkerran, Bart., L.L.D. p. 54.</ref>

Following his escape into the mountains, Bishop MacDonald remained in hiding locally until he managed to escape to France, during the sixth attempt by the [[French Royal Navy]] and French [[privateer]]s to find and rescue the Prince and his entourage, and was evacuated from what is now the [[Prince's Cairn]] at [[Loch nan Uamh]] on 19 September 1746.<ref name="Odo Blundell 1917 pp. 95-99"/>

[[File:Ruin at Brinacory - geograph.org.uk - 34929.jpg|thumb|left|An abandoned house on Morar]]
During the period of the [[Highland Clearances]], many residents emigrated to [[Canada]].<ref name=pc>{{cite book |title=The People's Clearance: Highland Emigration to British North America, 1770-1815 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akEtTJNF7DAC&pg=PA74 |year=1982 |publisher=University of Manitoba Press |isbn=978-0-88755-382-0 |page=74}}</ref> Boats left in 1790,<ref name=pc/> 1802,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Johnson |first1=J.K. |last2=Wilson |first2=Bruce G. |title=Historical Essays on Upper Canada: New Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asyduxzal4gC&pg=PA172 |year=1989 |publisher=McGill-Queen's Press |isbn=978-0-7735-7354-3 |page=172}}</ref> and 1826,<ref>{{cite book |last=Campey |first=Lucille H. |title=After the Hector: The Scottish Pioneers of Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 1773-1852 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LcucbvRuozUC&pg=PA118 |year=2007 |publisher=Dundurn |isbn=978-1-55002-770-9 |page=118}}</ref> carrying people to [[Quebec]], [[Glengarry County, Ontario|Glengarry]] in [[Ontario]], and the [[Strait of Canso]] in [[Nova Scotia]] respectively.

Swordland Lodge, on the northern shore of the loch, was used as training school [[List of SOE establishments#Training schools|STS 23b]] by the [[Special Operations Executive]] during the [[Second World War]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YIK7dMz1HK4C&pg=PA4 |page=4 |title=How to be a Spy: The World War II SOE Training Manual |first=Denis |last=Rigden |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-55488-191-8 |publisher=Dundurn}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://her.highland.gov.uk/hbsmrgatewayhighland/DataFiles/LibraryLinkFiles/11136.htm |title=Special Operations |author=David Harrison |publisher=her.highland.gov.uk |access-date=14 July 2014 |archive-date=14 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714133456/http://her.highland.gov.uk/hbsmrgatewayhighland/DataFiles/LibraryLinkFiles/11136.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

[[File:Loch Morar hydro station - geograph.org.uk - 909935.jpg|thumb|left|The hydroelectric power station on the River Morar]]
A 750&nbsp;kW [[Hydroelectricity|hydroelectric]] power station with a [[hydraulic head]] of {{convert|5.5|m}} was built on the River Morar and commissioned in 1948.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scottish-places.info/features/featurefirst10839.html |title=Morar Power Station |publisher=scottish-places.info |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.scotlandsplaces.gov.uk/record/rcahms/277877/morar-dam-hydro-electric-power-scheme/rcahms |title=Morar Dam, Hydro-electric Power Scheme |publisher=scotlandsplaces.gov.uk |access-date=13 July 2014}}</ref>

==Geology==
[[File:Ceann Loch Morar. - geograph.org.uk - 47594.jpg|thumb|left|The eastern end of the loch]]
Loch Morar is located entirely within the [[Moine Supergroup#Morar Group|Morar Group]] of sediments, which were deposited in the latter part of the [[Cambrian]], and subsequently subjected to many phases of deformation.<ref name=gpdf>{{cite web |url=http://www.lochmorar.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Geology-of-Loch-Morar.pdf |title=Geology of Loch Morar |publisher=lochmorar.org.uk |access-date=12 July 2014}}</ref>

The loch occupies a basin produced by the [[overdeepening]] of the valley by [[glacial erosion]], along an east–west fault line.<ref name=Trewin2002>{{cite book |author=N. H. Trewin |title=The Geology of Scotland |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ObdepEp9r7kC&pg=PA411 |year=2002 |publisher=Geological Society of London |isbn=978-1-86239-126-0 |page=411}}</ref><ref name=Leake2011>{{cite book |author=Bernard E. Leake |title=The Life and Work of Professor J. W. Gregory FRS (1864-1932): Geologist, Writer and Explorer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSMB0DrDnsIC&pg=PA145 |year=2011 |publisher=Geological Society of London |isbn=978-1-86239-323-3 |page=145}}</ref> It is not a [[sea loch]] due to [[Post-glacial rebound|isostatic rebound]] that raised the rock [[Sill (geology)|sill]] at the end of the loch.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hluxrq3xyGQC&pg=PA90 |title=Glacial Environments |first=M. J. |last=Hambrey |year=1994 |publisher=UBC Press |isbn=978-0-7748-0510-0 |page=90}}</ref>

Based on estimates of erosion of between {{convert|2|-|4|mm|in|abbr=on|frac=32}} per year, the deep basin was created over a period of 67,000 – 150,000 years of [[Last glacial period|glacial action]], which occurred intermittently during the last million years of the [[Quaternary glaciation]].<ref name=Trewin2002/> An [[outwash fan]] made up of sand and gravels at the western end of the loch marks the limit of the [[Loch Lomond Stadial|re-advance]] in the Morar valley.<ref name=mccann>{{cite journal |url=http://sjg.lyellcollection.org/content/2/1/84.abstract |title=The limits of the Late-glacial Highland, or Loch Lomond, Readvance along the West Highland seaboard from Oban to Mallaig |year=1966 |last=McCann |first=S.B. |journal=Scottish Journal of Geology |volume=2 |issue=1 |doi=10.1144/sjg02010084 |bibcode=1966ScJG....2...84M |s2cid=128585142 |at=Synopsis|url-access=subscription }}</ref> Subsequently, colonised by vegetation and known as Mointeach Mhòr (the mossy plain), these deposits blocked the outflow of the loch to the south, so that it drained from the north-west corner instead.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lochabergeopark.org.uk/Pages/Road_to_the_Isles.asp |work=Road to the Isles |title=4. Mointeach Mhòr |publisher=Lochaber Geopark |access-date=20 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140726121307/http://www.lochabergeopark.org.uk/Pages/Road_to_the_Isles.asp |archive-date=26 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[catchment area]] of the loch is {{convert|168|km2}}, and the geology is [[Base-richness|base-poor]].<ref name=coll/><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bailey-Watts |first1=A. E. |last2=Duncan |first2=P. |year=1981 |chapter=Chemical characterisation — A one-year comparative study |title=The Ecology of Scotland's Largest Lochs |series=[[Monographiae Biologicae]] |volume=44 |pages=67  |doi=10.1007/978-94-009-8635-0_3 |isbn=978-94-009-8637-4}}</ref> A site to the north of the loch was selected in 2011 as a SSSI for its characteristic rock exposures of the Moine group by the [[Geological Conservation Review]], replacing the area around [[Mallaig]] harbour, which had been previously regarded as the most representative site.<ref name=gpdf/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.road-to-the-isles.org.uk/westword/april2011.html |work=West Word |title=News from Mallaig Harbour April 2011 |access-date=20 July 2014}}</ref>

==Wildlife==
The loch is surrounded by a mix of natural woodland, open hillside, sheep and cattle pasture and planted mixed coniferous and broadleaf woodlands.<ref name=wild>{{cite web |url=http://www.lochmorar.org.uk/wildlife/ |title=Wildlife Around Loch Morar |publisher=lochmorar.org.uk |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> Only around 0.7% of the surface of the loch can be colonised by plants.<ref name=coll/>

===Fish===
Loch Morar's fish population is believed to be limited to [[Atlantic Salmon]], [[brown trout]] and [[sea trout]], [[Arctic char]], [[eel]], [[stickleback]], and [[minnow]].<ref name=coll>{{cite report |url=http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Uploads/Documents/Coll1496.pdf |title=A Repeat Survey of Salmon and Trout Stocks in the Loch Morar System |first=Andrew |last=Walker |year=1996 |publisher=Fisheries Research Service}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lochmorar.org.uk/wildlife/fish-populations/ |title=Fish Populations |publisher=lochmorar.org.uk |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> Trout average around {{convert|3/4|lb|g|order=flip|abbr=on}} in size, but [[ferox trout]] of up to {{convert|15|lb|kg|0|order=flip|abbr=on}} have been caught.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lochmorar.org.uk/fishing/ |title=Fishing on Loch Morar |publisher=lochmorar.org.uk |access-date=11 July 2014}}</ref> The loch is also known to contain [[eel]]s, although none were caught in a recent survey of eel populations in [[Lochaber]], suggesting that they prefer the loch to the tributaries surveyed.<ref name=eel>{{cite report |url=http://www.lochaberfish.org.uk/cust_images/Lochaber_eel_report_2010.pdf |first=Diane |last1=Baum |first2=Lucy |last2=Smith |title=Lochaber Eel Report 2010 |publisher=Lochaber Fisheries Trust |year=2010 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Catches of salmon and sea trout declined dramatically between the 1970s and 1980s, in common with other catchments on the west coast.<ref>{{cite report |url=http://scotland.gov.uk/Uploads/Documents/Coll0102.pdf |title=The Status of Salmon and Sea Trout Stocks in the West Coast of Scotland |first1=J. C. |last1=Maclean |first2=A. F. |last2=Walker |year=2002 |publisher=Freshwater Fisheries Laboratory |archive-date=21 October 2012 |access-date=29 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121021020131/http://scotland.gov.uk/Uploads/Documents/Coll0102.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Artificial stocking of the River Morar with salmon and sea trout was suspended in 2007 after the hatchery was closed.<ref name=fp/>

The main [[salmonid]] [[spawning grounds]] are the River Meoble and the smaller burns that feed into the loch.<ref name=fp/> The hydroelectric power station, which contain one of only two [[fish counter]]s in Lochaber, is shut down during the smolt run, following a study on smolt mortality in 1992.<ref name=coll/><ref name=fp/>

The catchment is managed by the  Morar District Salmon Fishery Sub-board, which employs a full-time fisheries manager.<ref name=fp/> Poaching in the form of netting has been known to occur at the mouth of the River Morar.<ref name=fp/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category}}
*[http://maps.nls.uk/view/74422165 Map of Loch Morar] from soundings performed by John Murray and Laurence Pullar
*[http://maps.nls.uk/dcn6/7443/74432898.6.pdf Murrary and Puller's description of the loch]

{{Lochaber}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Morar, Loch}}
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