View source for Sule Stack

{{About|the small sea stack north of the Scottish mainland|the larger nearby island|Sule Skerry|the island north of the Hebrides|Sula Sgeir}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

{{Infobox Scottish island
|coordinates = {{coord|59.02|-4.51|display=inline}}
|GridReference=HX561179
|celtic name= 
|norse name=
|meaning of name=Gannet Stack, from [[wikt:sùlaire|sùlaire]] (Scottish Gaelic for northern gannet), and [[Stack (geology)|Stack]] (originally Norse) Norse{{sfn|Stewart|1938|p=283}}
|area={{cvt|2.9|ha|acre|frac=4}}
|area rank= 
|highest elevation={{cvt|36|m|ft}}
|Population=0
|population rank=
|main settlement=
|island group= [[North Atlantic]] 
|local authority= [[Orkney]]
|references={{sfn|National Records of Scotland|2013}}{{sfn|Haswell-Smith|2004}}{{sfn|Orkney (Mainland)|2014}}
|Image=Sule Stack 01.04.2012 14.08.11.jpg}}

'''Sule Stack''' or '''Stack Skerry''' is an extremely remote island or [[Stack (geology)|stack]] in the [[North Atlantic]] off the north coast of [[Scotland]]. It is formed of [[Lewisian complex|Lewisian gneiss]].{{sfn|Kirton|Hitchen|1987}}

Sule Stack lies {{convert|49|km|nmi|frac=2|abbr=off}} north of the Scottish mainland, and {{cvt|66|km|nmi|frac=2}} west of the [[Orkney]] mainland, at {{gbmapping|HX561179}}. Sule Stack's sole neighbour, [[Sule Skerry]], lies {{cvt|10|km|nmi|frac=2}}  northeast and the remote islands of [[North Rona|Rona]] and [[Sula Sgeir]] lie further to the west. Sule Stack and Sule Skerry are home to thousands of gannets and as a result are listed as a [[special protection area]]; the island falls within the administrative region of the [[Orkney Islands]].

The island (along with Sule Skerry) has been designated an [[Important Bird Area]] (IBA) by [[BirdLife International]] because it supports breeding populations of several species of [[seabird]]s.<ref name=bli>{{cite web |url= https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/2607 |title=Sule Skerry and Sule Stack|author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2024|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 2024-08-28}}</ref>

[[File:Stack Skerry.PNG|thumb|From the west, Sule Stack appears like a double rock]]
Bird species nesting on the stack include:{{sfn|EEA|n.d.}}
*[[Razorbill]] ''Alca torda''  	    	    	    	  
*[[Atlantic puffin]] ''Fratercula arctica'' 	  	  	  	 
*[[Fulmar]] ''Fulmarus glacialis''
*[[Great black-backed gull]] ''Larus marinus''
*[[Common shag]] '' Phalacrocorax aristotelis''
*[[Black-legged kittiwake]] ''Rissa tridactyla''	  	  	  	 
*[[Arctic tern]] ''Sterna paradisaea''  	  	  	 
*[[Northern gannet]] ''Morus bassanus''		  	  	  	 
*[[Common guillemot]] ''Uria aalge''

==See also==
* [[List of outlying islands of Scotland]]

==References==
{{reflist|22em}}

==Sources==
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFNational_Records_of_Scotland2013}}
{{refbegin|33em}}
*{{Haswell-Smith}}
*{{cite book |last1=Kirton |first1=S.R. |last2=Hitchen |first2=K. |editor-last1=Coward |editor-first1=M.P. |editor-last2=Dewey |editor-first2=J.F. |editor-last3=Hancock |editor-first3=P.L. |title=Continental Extensional Tectonics |url=http://sp.lyellcollection.org/cgi/content/abstract/28/1/501 |series=Special Publications |volume=28 |date=1987 |publisher=Geological Society |location=London |isbn=978-0-632-01605-1 |pages=501–510 |chapter=Timing and style of crustal extension N of the Scottish mainland}}
*{{NRS1C}}
*{{cite map |series=Landranger |scale=1:50,000 |issue=6 |title=Orkney (Mainland) |ISBN=9780319228128 |publisher=Ordnance Survey |date=2014 |ref={{harvid|Orkney (Mainland)|2014}} }}
*{{citation |journal=[[British Birds (magazine)|British Birds]] |volume=31 |issue=9 |pages=282–294 |title=Notes on the Gannetries of Sule Stack and Sula Sgeir |first=Malcolm |last=Stewart |publisher=Witherby & Co. |date=1 February 1938 |url=https://www.britishbirds.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/article_files/V31/V31_N09/V31_N09_P282_294_A049.pdf }}
*{{cite web |publisher=European Environment Agency |title=Sule Skerry & Stack Skerry |url=http://eunis.finsiel.ro/eunis/sites-factsheet.jsp?idsite=700100230 |ref={{harvid|EEA|n.d.}} }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sule Stack|position=left}}

{{coord|59.02382|N|4.50846|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(HX561179)|display=title}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->

[[Category:Special Protection Areas in Scotland]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Orkney]]
[[Category:Important Bird Areas of Orkney]]
[[Category:Stacks of Scotland]]
[[Category:Uninhabited islands of Orkney]]


{{Orkney-geo-stub}}