Loch Morar

Infobox lake
lake_name = Loch Morar
image_lake = Loch Morar.jpg
caption_lake =
image_bathymetry =
caption_bathymetry =
location = Morar, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland
coords = coord|56|56|30|N|5|40|21|W|region:GB_type:waterbody|display=inline,title
type = freshwater loch
inflow =
outflow =
catchment =
basin_countries = United Kingdom
length = 19 km
width =
area = 26.7 km²
depth =
max-depth = 310 m (1,017 ft)
volume =
residence_time =
shore =
elevation =
islands = 5
cities =

Loch Morar (Scottish Gaelic: Loch Mhòrair) is a freshwater loch in Morar, Lochaber, Highland, Scotland. It is the fifth largest loch in Scotland, with a surface area of 26.7 square kilometres (10.37 square miles). It is also the deepest freshwater body in the British Isles, with a maximum depth of 310 metres (1,017 feet).

Loch Morar is of glacial origin with very steep sides and a length of 19 kilometres. It contains five sizeable islands.

Although the only road along the loch extends no more than four miles along the north shore, both sides of the lake were inhabited along their length as late as the early twentieth century. Emigration and the introduction of sheep farming and sporting estates in place of the traditional cattle farming, however, led to the abandoment of all settlements on the south shore and of those on the north east of Bracorina. Kinclochmorar, at the head of the loch, was last inhabited around 1920 and Swordland Lodge, at the midway point on the north shore and level with the deepest part of the loch, has been no more than a summer home since 1969.

In common with Loch Ness, occasional reports of large unidentified creatures in the loch's waters are made. The monster has been dubbed Morag by locals.

Loch Morar was once famous for its prolific salmon and sea trout runs, but in common with most other freshwater systems in north-west Scotland these fish have been largely eradicated, and in many cases unique genotypes are now extinct, due to biological pollution in the form of parasitic lice from sea cage salmon farms.

The Department of Atomic Energy [http://www.kcl.ac.uk/lhcma/pro/p-ab16b.htm built] a station at Loch Morar in 1947, possibly investigating using the loch as a source of heavy water.

References

* [http://www.pantheon.org/articles/m/mhorag.html "Mhorag" Online Encyclopedia Mythica]

External links

* [http://www.ilec.or.jp/database/eur/eur-25.html Loch Morar's entry in the World Lakes Database]