An purpose of this study was to carry out site condition monitoring (SCM) of the sandbanks feature of the Loch nam Madadh SAC and Site Checks of the remaining marine sedimentary and reef protected features (apart from saline lagoons). The principle aims were to: (1) identify any deterioration in the condition of the subtidal sandbanks feature; and (2) to form a judgement on its current condition. SCM was inaugurated in the SAC in 2004, which provided a baseline for the current study. The SCM work largely took the form of an extensive drop-down video survey and infaunal survey of the loch system, together with more detailed surveying of the sandbanks feature along transects at selected maerl bed sites. The site check work principally involved surveying along relocatable transects established at mudflat, reef and tidal rapids locations. A survey of the tidal rapids feature of the Loch an Duin SSSI and the Loch nam Madadh SSSI, both of which overlap with the SAC, was also undertaken.
