Whilst out on an expedition looking for the many Sea Eagles that frequent the beautiful Isle of Lewis, we came across the stranded oil drilling rig, Transocean Winner on the rocks at Dalmore. It had been under tow from Norway to Malta and had got into difficulty in extremely bad weather on Sunday night. Early Monday morning the tow line parted and the 17,000 ton rig was washed ashore in high seas and strong winds. Five days later it remains aground and fears have arisen that much of the diesel on board has been spilled - you can actually see this in the video as a brown stain in the water.
Recovery attempts are underway but it could be weeks if not months before it is ready to be moved safely. This is one of the remotest parts of Scotland and simply getting people to the site is a challenge let along getting heavy equipment anywhere near it. There are even plans being drawn up to dismantle it in situ rather than trying to refloat it.