page_title: Mousa
section_title: Conservation
hierarchical_section_title: Mousa / Conservation
caption_attribution_description: East coast of Mousa Looking SSE towards the Peerie Bard. Shetland Islands.
context_page_description: Mousa is a small island in Shetland, Scotland, uninhabited since the nineteenth century. The island is known for the Broch of Mousa, an Iron Age round tower, and is designated as a Special Protection Area for storm-petrel breeding colonies.
context_section_description: Mousa is known for grey and common seals, black guillemots, Arctic terns and storm-petrels.
  Mousa holds c. 6,800 breeding pairs of European storm-petrels in total. This represents about 8% of the British population and 2.6% of the world population. The island has been designated as both a Special Protection Area (SAC) and a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) by Scottish Natural Heritage, and is run as a reserve by the RSPB. 
  The seas surrounding the island are host a population of sandeel that provides a food source for many species fish, seabirds, seals, whales and dolphins: the area is considered to have the most reliable population of sandeels of all the seas surrounding Shetland. These seas are therefore also protected, forming both a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a Nature Conservation Marine Protected Area (NCMPA). 
  Storm petrels may also be found at the reserve of Haaf Gruney.
caption: The east coast of Mousa towards the Peerie Bard
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