DAY OUT: Bardsey (Ynys Enlli), Gwynedd
Island of seals and shearwaters
An Augustinian abbey and an eclectic cast of wild creatures; Ynys Enlli is Wales’ treasure island, says Julie Brominicks
Four small children standing at the edge of the jetty are watching some 20 seals in the water below watching them. The children howl gently. The seals glide closer. The curiosity between them is mutual, the communion palpable.
Known in English as Bardsey Island, Ynys Enlli belongs to the seals – you know it even before your small boat has docked. Apparently unconcerned by its intrusion, the seals continue their melancholy singing and less melodic snorting. After all, the boat is a regular, pulsing to and from the mainland with visitors, sheep or groceries. But the seals – a colony of some 200 Atlantic greys – are a constant.
ENLLI WILDLIFE
Despite their omnipresence, it is not only for them that Ynys Enlli is a National Nature Reserve, a Site of Special Scientific Interest, part of a Special Area of Conservation and a Special Protection Area. Harbour porpoises, bottlenose and common dolphins and, on sunny days, Risso’s dolphins zip through the deeper offshore waters.
Other marine species include sponges, sea squirts and the rare yellow star anemone, while more than 350 species of lichen grow on the island – including rare ciliate strap-lichen. But Enlli’s wildlife renown is largely due to its 20,000-strong breeding colony of Manx shearwaters. Clumsy on land but streamlined in flight, each pair raises a supremely fluffy chick in an old rabbit burrow before migrating to South America for the winter.
SAILING THE SOUND
You can arrange day trips or residential visits here throughout the summer months. The small island lies two miles from the end of Pen Llŷn across a turbulent sound; crossings only take place when conditions are right. Bring a spirit of adventure and expect to share the island with peace-seeking pilgrims following in the footsteps of the earliest Christians, whose medieval followers left a now ruined Augustinian abbey.
The mainland mountains look glorious from the top of Mynydd Enlli, the island’s only hill. From here, spray indicating perilous currents in the dark sea below resembles puffs of flour spilt accidentally on a slate floor. From here, too, of course, you can also hear the seals snort and sing.
Julie Brominicks is a landscape writer and author who lives in Wales.