A New Lighthouse - Maybe
By Sue Clark on Aug 27, 2008 in News 
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Conservationists Say Nay
The February 2008 wreck of the Spanish Fishing Trawler Spinningdale has created calls for the building of a lighthouse on the World Heritage Site St. Kilda, an archipelago in the British Isles. The wreck during a blinding snowstorm in February was highlighted by a dramatic helicopter rescue of the fourteen crewmen aboard the ship. Four were hospitalized with hypothermia. Their vessel ran aground on rocks on one of the islands of the St. Kilda archipelago - 40 miles west of the Outer Hebrides.
St. Kilda is owned by the National Trust for Scotland, and North Uist councillor Archie Campbell said the Northern Lighthouse Board had considered the idea, but that there were objections from conservationists. The archipelago is an important breeding ground for seabirds, and fears from the conservation minded folks were that this would disrupt their natural habitat. The wreck caused the spillage of fuel into the waters surrounding the island, but were mitigated somewhat by a fast response. The wreckage will be staying there until sometime in 2009.
Campbell said that with the recent reinstatement of lights on the Monach Islands, west of North Uist, the next step was for one on St Kilda, according to the story on the BBC News site. Who knows, maybe we’ll be seeing a new lighthouse soon. Perhaps if Princess Anne has her say, the pharologists will have a new lighthouse to bag. 
Photo credit: Tony Page. Some rights reserved.
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