Auskerry

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Auskerry (population 5 (2001 census)) is a small island in the east of the Orkney Islands group in Scotland. It lies in the North Sea south of Stronsay and is home to a lighthouse, completed in 1866. The name is from the Old Norse for east skerry.

The island was uninhabited for a time after the automation of the lighthouse in the 1960s. It was also previously a popular location for hunting seals.

It is currently inhabited by a family who keep sheep on the island. There is a very wide variety of wildlife there, as well as a shipwreck from a cruiseliner sunk amid violent storms. Mail is delivered once every month via fishing boat.

Today there is a small wind turbine on the island which provides most of the power. There has been a series of expansions and renovations to a barn and it now makes up a modern house complete with 4 bedrooms, although the toilet is still outdoors.

The lighthouse contains a small house which is mainly used in summer, but it is also used as a store.

Auskerry is designated a Special Protection Area due to its importance as a nesting area for Arctic Tern and Storm Petrel. At least 4.2% of the breeding population of Storm Petrel in Great Britain nest on the island.

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