Ceanglaichean an teicneòlais riatanach – carson a tha na h-eileanan cho fad air dheireadh?

Chaidh na h-oidhirpean sàbhalaidh a chuingleachadh leis nach robh ceangal fòn-làimhe ceart ri fhaighinn. (Dealbh: Mairi Robertson-Carrey/ Cristina McAvoy)

[English-language version below]

Breab math dhen bhall agus a-mach à seo leis a’ chù-chaorach, a’ tilgeil smùid de ghainmheach às a dhèidh. Ann an priobadh na sùla, tha a chasan toisich air muinn a’ bhuill agus fhiaclan a’ stialladh às an leathar, nàdar an t-sealgaire cho follaiseach ‘s a ghabhas, fiù ‘s às dèidh ceudan de bhliadhnaichean aig cois mhic an duine.

‘S beag a dhragh, ged-tà, aig an labrador. Chan e an aon ghnè a th’ annta. Tha i sin toilichte gu leòr a bhith na laighe aig oir na mara, le spògan anns na suailichean.

Seo tràigh Bhataisgeir ann an Leòdhas, beagan mhìltean bho far a bheil mi a’ fuireach. Tràigh bhrèagha, bhuidhe, ghlan, far am bi mi a’ toirt nan coin air chuairt agus airson beagan de fhàileadh na mara fhaighinn.

Fiù ‘s an-dràsta, an teas mheadhan an t-samhraidh, cha mhòr g’ eil duine beò timcheall. Sin aon dhe na buannachdan le bhith a’ fuireach ann an àite dhen t-seòrsa sa: am bòidhchead nàdarrach a tha gar cuairteachadh agus a tha air ar stàrsach.

Ged a tha mi cho eòlach air an seo ‘s a ghabhas, tha sìth fhathast anns an t-sàmhchair is a’ bhòidhchead.

Ach, beagan slighe sìos a’ chosta, ‘s e suidheachadh eile a tha ann. Ann an sin air an Tràigh Mhòr, Tolastadh, tha clòsaichean de 54 muc-mhara nan laighe a’ grodadh às dèidh na thachair madainn na Sàbaid ‘s a chaidh.

Carson a fhuair iad fhèin ann an trioblaid chan eileas buileach cinnteach, ach chan eil e neo-àbaisteach dhaibh a bhith gam faighinn ann an duilgheadas. Tha iad a’ fuireach ann an aon bhuidheann agus leis gu bheil iad gu h-àbhaisteach beò ann an uisgeachan domhainn chan eil tuigse aca air an tìde mhara.

Ach, le 54 marbh agus dìreach aon air a sàbhalachadh, seo an tachartas as miosa dhe sheòrsa a-riamh ann an Alba. Chaidh oidhirp mhòr a dhèanamh às dèidh fios a ghairm an toiseach, goirid an dèidh seachd uairean sa mhadainn. Ach, mun àm a thàinig leth-uair an dèidh trì, b’ fheudar stad.

Anns na h-ochd uairean a thide sin, chaidh an obair a chuingleachadh leis nach robh ceangal fòn-làimhe ceart ri fhaighinn. Agus cha bu chòir dhen sin a bhith. Tha baile Tholastaidh, le mu chòig cheud duine a’ fuireach ann, gu math faisg air làimh agus le sin, cò a shaoileadh gum biodh na ceangalan teicneòlas cho lag. Cha bhiodh dùil ris.

Ach, seo na h-eileanan, ‘s a dh’aindheoin gach buannachd, tha iomadach cnap-starradh ann cuideachd – mar cion cothroim air seirbheisean a tha a’ chuid mhòr de dhaoine a’ faicinn mar àbhaisteach. Tha fhathast àitichean às aonais ceangal fòn cear agus a’ bhann-leathainn. Agus ann an 2023.

Ri linn na thachair, tha a’ bhuidheann a bha an urra ris an obair sàbhalaidh a’ dol a chur airson reidioan VHF gus nach bi iad às aonais ceangal teicneòlais ma thachras an aon rud a-rithist. Thathar an dòchas gum bi iad soirbheachail.

Ach, dè an-dràsta mu dheidhinn nan daoine a tha air fhàgail anns na coimhearsnachdan seo – saoil nach eil iad sin iomchaidh anns an là a tha ann air an aon seòrsa saothair son am beatha aca a dhìon?

English-language version:

A firm toe-poke of the ball and off sprints the young collie, sand spraying in his wake. Within seconds, his front paws are pouncing on the moving object and, in almost the same motion, front teeth tear into the leather, the hunting tendencies of his ancestor, the wolf, still to the fore, despite centuries of domestication. The labrador, meanwhile, being of an altogether different disposition, looks on askance, contentedly waddling along in the shallow waters of the lapping sea.

This is Vatisker beach on Lewis, just a couple of miles from where I live. It’s a half-mile stretch of golden, sparkling sand, where I go to get my sea air constitution and to exercise the dogs. Even in July, at the height of the tourist season, there is hardly a soul about. It is one of the real benefits of living on an island: the unspoilt natural beauty that surrounds us. It forces you to relax, to breathe, to take things easy, to contemplate.

Even for someone so used to it, the serenity never disappoints. But just along the coast, around the corner from the headland, a scene of a completely differing nature is unfolding. There on Traigh Mhor, one of the most famous and popular beaches on the island, the corpses of 54 dead pilot whales lie rotting, after an incident last Sunday morning.

Quite why they became stranded in the shallow waters of the tide is not really known, but it’s not unusual for it to happen to large pods of these creatures as they are highly sociable and if one gets in trouble they all do. Being normally found in deeper water, they do not have an in-built intuition for the movement of the tide and so easily find themselves cut off.

However, with 54 dead and only one saved, this is the worst yet in terms of whale fatalities in Scotland. A massive rescue effort was launched when they were reported just after 7am, but by 3.30pm it was all over, with only one whale successfully refloated.

In that eight-hour period, however, the rescue efforts were being hampered by a lack of a mobile signal. And it shouldn’t have been so as the village of Tolsta, with a population of 500, is within a stone’s throw of the beach, so such poor telecommunications would not have been predicted or expected by those who came to the attempted rescue of the whales.

But this is the islands, where for all the benefits that we have in terms of environment and a way of life, there are also real disadvantages – such as access to services that most people would regard as perfectly normal. There are still places where people live with patchy mobile signal, still whole communities cut off without proper broadband provision. And this in 2023.

The British Divers Marine Life Rescue, on the back of their attempted rescue experience in Tolsta, are now looking to invest in VHF radios to prevent a similar situation from happening again. Let’s hope their efforts are successful and that any future rescues result in a better outcome.

But what for the human population left behind? Is it really acceptable in this day and age for them to suffer from a lack of such basic infrastructure, even if they would still choose to live where they do, with or without it?