Gruinard Island Scotland

Gruinard Island, Scotland - darkometer rating : 6 - A small island off Scotland's north-western coast, Great Britain 's wildest and least inhabited corner. Also known as "anthrax island", it was used for secret British tests with biological weapons, namely anthrax, in 1942. It remained contaminated for many decades but is now said to be "safe". > More background info > What there is to see > Location > Access and costs > Time required > Combinations with other dark destinations > Combinations with non-dark destinations More background info: To find out whether anthrax could be delivered by explosive bombs, the British military conducted tests on the small Scottish island of Gruinard, which was purchased by the government specifically for the purpose. The test, conducted in 1942, in the midst of WWII , was "successful" – more so than anticipated: the sheep used in the experiment did indeed die of anthrax after they had been exposed to the anthrax spores released by the detonation of the test devices. Afterwards, the poor creatures were incinerated and buried on the island, but the assumption that the highly virulent anthrax spores would then simply die off on their own, however, proved wrong. It was discovered that anthrax was still alive and kicking and highly dangerous in the top soil of the island. Initial efforts to decontaminate it were unsuccessful, so the island was closed off – a quarantined no-go area! With warning signs put up to keep out potential intrepid passers-by. They would have needed a boat, though, so the likelihood was low. And so it remained until in the late 1980s another concerted effort was made to clean up the island. Hundreds of tons of formaldehyde were spayed all over the island and soil at hotspots of contamination removed. In 1990 the warning signs were removed and the island was officially declared safe to visit again. Not that many would want to go there, though.