Shiant Islands, Scotland, United Kingdom

Na h-Eileanan Seunta, the Gaelic name for the Shiant Islands, translates as “enchanted isles,” and a near-constant shroud of mist or rain does lend an ethereal quality to this remote archipelago in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides. Yet the real magic here is the abundance of seabirds, thousands upon thousands of them everywhere you look — nesting on the steep, rocky cliffs, flying overhead, skimming the water’s surface, and waddling along the shore. One of the most important breeding grounds for seabirds in Europe, the Shiant Islands are home to more than 250,000 thousand puffins — a tenth of the United Kingdom’s entire population — along with huge colonies of razorbills, murres, fulmars and black-legged kittiwakes. Cormorants, gannets, gulls, and even white-tailed eagles can be spotted, as well. The Shiants — a privately owned group of three main islands, along with a handful of islets — are situated about five miles into The Minch, a strait separating the Hebrides from the northwest Highlands. The Minch’s plankton-rich waters feed the Shiants’ resident grey and harbor seals, while also attracting dolphins and porpoises, several species of whales, and basking sharks.