Bass Rock (
NT602875) is a rocky outcrop, 150m high and 2km offshore at the mouth of the Forth of Forth, which lies about 50 miles north of Burnmouth, near the town of North Berwick. The rock is home to 70,000 gannets (Britain's largest seabird) and mammals such as the grey seal and even the occasional dolphin; it is the world's largest single-rock gannetry.
Once the hermitage of Saint Baldred (died c. 608), the gannets were first mentioned in a document sent to the Vatican Council in Rome detailing a dispute between the owners of the Bass and the Cistercian nuns at North Berwick. The nuns were concerned that the tithe they received on each barrel of fat produced from the slaughtered birds at the autumn cull was under threat. The rock has a long
history which reflects the contentious and bloody nature of the times.
The best way to see the birds is to take a boat trip in the Sula II (
email or telephone 01620 892238) from North Berwick harbour. These trips start round in April and run every day throughout the summer, dependent on the weather and sea conditions. The trip lasts 1 hour 15 min. The gannets are on the Bass Rock from February to October.
Bird watching in North Berwick, even in winter, can be rewarding, as large numbers of migrants from the north come to feed on the rocky and sandy foreshore in the sheltered bays of the Firth.
