A RARE red blenny shelters between coral-encrusted rocks; the surge of the north Atlantic swell keeps a colourful kaleidoscope of sea anemones in constant motion as seabirds plunge from spectacular cliffs into crystal-clear water to feed on herring, sandeels and sprats.
The waters off St Kilda are the "jewel in the crown" of Scotland's seas, one of just 30 marine World Heritage Sites recognised internationally.
This archipelago was considered too remote to be at risk from man's voracious appetite for all the sea has to offer, but The Scotsman has learned there have been the first-ever reports that its precious reefs have been scoured by scallop-dredgers, an effect likened to "taking an agricultural power harrower to your flower bed".
If a fleet of such boats arrives tomorrow and obliterates this globally significant, iconic underwater environment, it would be a national scandal. But what official protection exists does so only on paper and no sanctions would be imposed on those responsible.
Virtually none of Scotland's seas are protected: just two locations, the Firth of Lorne and Loch Creran, have protection backed by legal sanction for conservation reasons. The Darwin Mounds, which are within UK-controlled waters, are protected by European legislation.
But many other hidden treasures of the deep could be wiped out and hardly anyone would know. This is why The Scotsman today begins a campaign to recognise and preserve the value of the seas around Scotland's coasts.
Conservationists say there is a need for protected areas covering the most important sites in the sea as part of comprehensive measures to safeguard underwater flora and fauna. Measures like these taken for granted on land, but - out of sight, out of mind - life beneath the waves has had scant attention.
St Kilda is not alone. Protection should be given to the likes of the Sound of Mull, famous for its whales and dolphins; the pristine Loch Sween, important for native oysters, beds of coral-like maerl, lagoons and tidal rapids; north-western sealochs such as the scenic Gair Loch, where the black-throated and great northern divers can be found; and the Moray Firth, with its resident population of bottle-nose dolphins.
Protection is not simply a matter of "saving the whale" but of safeguarding a resource estimated to be worth £14 billion to the Scottish economy.
Nova Scotia learned the dangers of failing to look after marine life the hard way in the early 1990s, when fish stocks collapsed and the Grand Banks fishery - once the economic powerhouse of the Canadian province - was closed for years. Thousands of jobs were lost, the population fell dramatically and alcoholism rates soared.
Scottish waters show signs of serious problems as The Scotsman will describe in the coming weeks during the campaign. Seabirds are key indicators of the waters' health; they suffer when fish populations are low and if they are faring badly, it is likely other top predators are in a similar state.
Since about 2000, there have been repeated mass failures to breed by seabirds such as the kittiwake, puffin and guillemot. On St Kilda - prized in part because of its abundant marine life - baby puffins died in thousands from starvation for two consecutive years.
To an extent, such incidents can be regarded as the consequence of local problems, but for the first time gannets - which can fly hundreds of miles for food - are also showing signs of struggling to feed their young, suggesting a much wider problem.
In our seas, numbers of sandeels - food for many seabirds and larger fish - have crashed in recent years as plankton populations have shifted because of changes in currents and sea temperatures, linked to climate change. New figures are due next week available estimates are that there are 166,300 tonnes of sandeels in the North Sea - 600,000 tonnes is seen as a healthy and safe population. There have been signs of recovery but the situation is still a significant concern.
Important marine habitats, such as seagrass beds, cold-water corals, maerl and flameshell reefs, which provide nursery grounds for young fish, are also being lost. All this is happening just as human activity has been increasing. New marine activities have been adding to pressures from the fishing, shipping and oil industries in recent years: a burgeoning wildlife tourism sector, fish farms and offshore windfarms. Wave power schemes are already here and more are likely; tidal energy is coming.
The Scotsman believes the time has come to organise human activity at sea, so we can continue to exploit its riches without threatening the life found there. Every conservation group agrees.
Calum Duncan, convener of umbrella group Scottish Environmental Link's marine task force, said: "Current laws make it difficult to protect St Kilda and other nationally important marine areas in Scotland from damaging activities. We urgently need a Scottish marine bill so ministers have the powers to put in place site protection for species and habitats important to Scotland.
"Scottish seabirds such as the Arctic skua, rare fish such as the skate and seabed wonders such as maerl beds and sea pen parks - which provide shelter for hundreds of species - are in decline. Protected areas for nationally important marine species and habitats would help safeguard our marine natural heritage for future generations."
The Scottish and UK governments are promising marine bills, but it remains to be seen how quickly they will move and whether legislation will be truly effective.
Existing measures do not inspire confidence. A "special area of conservation" (SAC) was created under European law, covering a nine-mile square area around St Kilda; its borders are the same as the World Heritage Site.
But only the rocky reefs and spectacular caves are protected and while a vandal would face a fine, a fishing boat causing damage is extremely unlikely to be prosecuted - someone carrying out a lawful operation, such as fishing, who "did not foresee and could not reasonably have foreseen" that damage would be caused, is specifically exempted.
Dr Richard Luxmoore, head of nature conservation at the National Trust for Scotland, which owns St Kilda, is unimpressed. He said the two suspected cases of scallop dredging on the supposedly protected reef were like "taking an agricultural power harrower to your flower bed".
He added: "At the moment that's perfectly legal. They can go in and rip the whole place up if they want to and there's nothing we can do."
Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) said it had been informed a dredger was seen in the area, but that "no information was available as to whether it was operating or simply sheltering".
"SNH has not received any reports," a spokeswoman said. "If any hard evidence of actual damage caused to the reefs were received, this would be taken very seriously. It would be for the Scottish Government to consider what, if any, action would be appropriate.
"We understand that ultimately closure of the marine SAC to fishing vessels is a mechanism available to the Scottish Government."
Dr Mechtild Rossler, chief of Europe and North America at Unesco's World Heritage Centre in Paris, who has been to St Kilda, said: "This site is globally very important because it has fantastic marine life, incredibly diverse marine life. It is absolutely clear it is of outstanding, universal value."
She said she was not aware of any reports of damage to the site, but would investigate any evidence sent to her.
Dr Becky Boyd, marine policy officer at the Scottish Wildlife Trust, said the lack of effective protection for an underwater paradise like St Kilda and the plight of its seabirds - in an area so remote from human activity - spelled out the need for urgent action.
"The seabirds on St Kilda did terribly this year and it's a bit of a warning shot if the top-level predators are suffering," she said. "The sandeels they eat are one of the basic planks of the whole eco-system: fish like cod and other large predators would eat sandeels and other small fish like sprats and anchovies.
"The whole eco-system around St Kilda is in a bit of a state. It is pretty damning that a World Heritage Site is so vulnerable."
A Scottish Government spokesman said: "We would view any risk of damage of the marine environment around St Kilda with the utmost seriousness. We would take all appropriate action, including whatever legal measures were appropriate, to ensure this internationally recognised site is fully protected."
Marine 'reserves' are vital to conservation as pressures grow
THE Scotsman today launches a campaign to establish marine "reserves" to help save our sealife from destruction.
There are increasing pressures on Scottish waters with the surge in the renewable energy industry, fish farming and marine tourism adding to other demands made by the oil industry, traditional fishing activities and developments along the coasts.
The lack of protection has been highlighted by proposals to transfer millions of tonnes of Russian crude oil between tankers in the Firth of Forth, an area with important seabird colonies and other wildlife.
While such ship-to-ship transfers may have to happen, at present there is no effective way of ensuring they are carried out in the most suitable places, where any spill would cause the least damage.
All this comes at a time when climate change is wreaking havoc among sealife in Scotland's waters.
Fundamental changes to populations of plankton - the basic building block of all marine life - have sent shockwaves throughout the food chain, affecting fish stocks and seabirds.
Until recently, our politicians have appeared to ignore the growing signs of trouble or have put their faith on a mish-mash of some 85 pieces of legislation covering Scotland's seas, much of it outdated and with different aims in mind.
A comprehensive marine bill should give greater clarity and make conservation one of the main aims of government.
The Scottish and UK governments are both promising to bring in marine bills to address this situation, but there have been ominous signs of delay, raising concerns that much-needed measures will be watered down.
The Scotsman is calling on both the Holyrood and Westminster parliaments to create a network of reserves or "Marine Protected Areas" around the coast which are designed to safeguard important areas of the sea.
These may involve some "no- take" zones to help fish stocks recover and bans on other kinds of developments - oil infrastructure or renewable energy schemes for example.
But in many cases, fishing and other activities should be able to continue. It is more than possible to use the seas while avoiding the wanton destruction of sensitive marine life or areas rich in biodiversity.
An effective marine bill would also include the creation of a system of marine spatial planning. This may sound ominous to some, but human activity on the sea has reached a point where we must start to regulate our use of its resources to ensure they remain available for future generations.
Such a system would zone areas best suited to certain activities, ensuring shipping lanes are not compromised and important fishing grounds are not blocked by renewable energy schemes. It would provide a means of managing the conflicts of interest which will increasingly become a factor in the sea.
A single marine management organisation for Scotland should also be set up to oversea activity in the sea. This is currently run by a number of different government departments, bodies and, in the case of ship-to-ship oil transfers in the Firth of Forth, a private company, Forth Ports.
At present, Scotland is only responsible for wildlife in a strip of sea 12 nautical miles wide around its coast, with the UK government controlling waters from 12 to 200 miles.
This arbitrary division makes no sense and The Scotsman believes it is time for "devolution of the seas", giving control of conservation matters to the Scottish Government out to the international waters, assuming it is ready to take its responsibility to preserve marine life seriously.
Maintaining the health and welfare of our seas is crucial to the Scottish economy as a whole.
It has been estimated that the value of the "services" provided by Scotland's marine environment amounts to some £14 billion - about a fifth of Scotland's gross domestic product.
It may be out of sight beneath the waves, but it should not be out of mind. Our sealife is valuable in its own right and extremely valuable to us. We would be fools to stand by and watch its decline.
Virtually none of Scotland's seas are protected: just two locations, the Firth of Lorne and Loch Creran, have protection backed by legal sanction for conservation reasons. Picture:
