Sula Sgeir is a small, uninhabited Scottish islet in the North Atlantic, 18 kilometres (9+1⁄2 nautical miles) west of Rona.

One of the most remote islands of the British Isles, it lies approximately forty nautical miles (seventy kilometres) north of Lewis and is best known for its population of gannets.

It has a narrow elongated shape running north-northeast to south-southwest, and is approximately 900 m long by typically 100 m wide (apart from a central headland projecting a further 100 m on the easterly side).

A small automated lighthouse on the south end at Sròn na Lice is regularly damaged by the huge waves which break over the island during rough North Atlantic storms.

[6] How long before 1549 the Nessmen sailed to Sula Sgeir each year to collect the young gannets for food and feathers is not known, but it may be assumed that it was a tradition for centuries.

A 1797 census report written by the Reverend Donald McDonald states: The flesh of the young gannet or guga is regarded as a delicacy in Ness today though, for others, it is an acquired taste.

Working in pairs, the men take the fledglings from their nests with poles, catching them around the neck with a rope noose, then killing the birds with a blow to the head.

[citation needed] The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding populations of several species of seabirds.