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Starling Cave (SW entrance)

East Priest Craig, Findochty, Moray (Banffshire).

An upper intertidal seacave system with 5 tunnels and 5 entrances. Two are parallel facing NNE and the third joins them inside with a SE entrance and runs ENE/WSW to a SW entrance. There is a squeeze at about 11.5 m in from the SW entrance. The tunnel from the NW entrance continues SSW beyond the line of the ENE/WSW tunnel. There is a short supratidal tunnel from an inclined slot entrance NW2 just W of the larger NW entrance. Just inside the SE entrance a tunnel goes SSW. The axis plan may be helpful. There is a fairly large cavern centred on the crossing point of the tunnel from this NW entrance and that between the SE and SW entrances.

This entrance is some way up from the beach level. The rift on which it is based leans about 16 degrees north from vertical. Width is 1.7 m and floor to ceiling is 2.3 m.

Alternative Names: None recorded.

Notes: Access: from beach to the west of the cave at low tide. This can be from the Sandy Creek beach on the E side of Findochty.

Lengths measured on 30 May 24 by N Feilden. A positive check was made across the squeeze on 12 June 24 using a lightweight tent pole - inserted on the SW side and viewed poking through on the SE side - which confirms that the squeeze is short. VR is for the whole cave and is an estimate. Alt is ACD for this entrance and is estimated.