Canty Rocks

Island in Banffshire

Scotland

Canty Rocks

Rock outcrop This outcrop is partly in Cullen Links and partly on the Cullen Sands. — Rock outcrop Credit: don cload

Canty Rocks is a small island located off the coast of Banffshire, Scotland. With a total area of approximately 0.1 square kilometers, it is one of the many uninhabited islands in the region. The island is situated in the North Sea, about 2 kilometers northeast of the town of Portsoy.

Canty Rocks is known for its stunning natural beauty, with rugged cliffs and rocky shores that provide a habitat for a variety of seabirds. The island is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) due to its importance for breeding colonies of guillemots, razorbills, and kittiwakes. These birds can often be seen nesting on the steep cliffs during the summer months.

Access to Canty Rocks is limited, as there are no regular ferry services or public transportation options to the island. However, it is possible to visit the island by private boat or kayak, for those seeking a unique and secluded adventure.

The island's rocky terrain and lack of vegetation make it unsuitable for permanent human habitation. Nevertheless, Canty Rocks serves as an important sanctuary for wildlife and offers visitors a chance to experience the untamed beauty of the Scottish coastline. It is a popular destination for birdwatchers, nature enthusiasts, and those looking to explore the remote corners of Banffshire.

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Canty Rocks Images

Images are sourced within 2km of 57.695758/-2.8218033 or Grid Reference NJ5167. Thanks to Geograph Open Source API. All images are credited.

Rock outcrop

This outcrop is partly in Cullen Links and partly on the Cullen Sands.

don cload

Reddish rock outcrop in Cullen Bay

Peter Barr

Moray Coast Railway

A cutting behind Cullen Links. The trackbed is now a path.

Richard Webb

Ordnance Survey Flush Bracket G4051

This can be found on a boundary wall at Cullen Bay Hotel. For more detail see : Link

Peter Wood

Cullen Golf Club

A links course tucked in between sea and the former Moray Coast Railway. There has been some slippage of the steep slope beneath the railway trackbed here.

Richard Webb

Cullen Golf Club

View from the old railway.

Richard Webb

A cormorant in the Whaleâs Mou'

A cormorant is drying its wings at this natural arch on the coastline at Portknockie. For a wider view of the arch, see NJ4968 : The Whale's Mou'.

Walter Baxter

The Whaleâs Mouâ

This natural arch is on the coastline at Portknockie.

Walter Baxter

Toshie's Long Craigs

The name is applied to the furthest out of this group of rocks, which are at the northern end of the beach in Cullen Bay.

Anne Burgess

Cullen Bay

Rocky outcrops and shingle beaches lie to the north of the fine sandy beach at Cullen.

Anne Burgess

Old Red Sandstone

On the beach at Cullen are some large outcrops of coarse Old Red Sandstone conglomerate. The tiny sloping layers of rock in the middle of this image are fossilised ripples laid down by a stream something like 350 million years ago. Close inspection tells geologists that the rock is the right way up, and therefore have not been overturned by tectonic movements, like some of the other rocks in the Scottish Highlands.

Anne Burgess

The Whale's Mou'

The cave is between layers of Cullen Quartzite. The red colour is iron staining from overlying Old Red Sandstone.

Anne Burgess

A98 Approaching the Cullen Bay Hotel

Peter Bond

The outside of the Whale's Mou from the south

The top of the south west entrance is just visible above the nearer cliff slope. There is a semi-circular layer of rock which has eroded away above the middle of the cave tunnel. Taken near low tide.

Nigel Feilden

Cullen House Home Farm

The long range of stone buildings with square castellated central tower dates from 1816, and is a Category B Listed building. See Link

for full details.

Anne Burgess

Field at Cullen Home Farm

Like many others on the estate, this field has a wide grassy margin left uncultivated for the benefit of wildlife.

Anne Burgess

Dry stone wall - Home Farm

valenta

Logie Head

Logie Head comprises the whole of this promontory. At both ends of the headland the rocks belong to the Cullen Quartzite Formation, but in between is the Dicky Hare Semipelite Member. In simple terms, quartzite is metamorphosed pure sand, but semipelite is metamorphosed muddy sand. As well as being metamorphosed, the strata have been tilted through 90º by tectonic forces, and you can see in this view that the cliff looks like a row of verticals. The name Dicky Hare is applied to the beach below the semipelite cliffs, but I have no as yet discovered the origin of this rather odd name.

Anne Burgess

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Canty Rocks is located at Grid Ref: NJ5167 (Lat: 57.695758, Lng: -2.8218033)

Unitary Authority: Moray

Police Authority: North East