Annex II Species SACs fully detached from the coast
Four species listed on Annex II to the Habitats Directive
are known to occur in UK waters away from the coast:

Otter and river lamprey (or lampern) occur only in inshore and
inland waters. Lamprey, sturgeon and shad are all rare in UK
offshore waters and without regular places of occurrence.
Loggerhead turtle is primarily a tropical and subtropical species
which may wander into temperate waters and is recorded infrequently
in UK waters. No sites 'essential to their life and reproduction'
are likely to be identifiable for these Annex II species in waters
away from the coast.
For the two seal species, coastal SACs have already
been designated in the UK to protect breeding colonies and
moulting and haul out sites, and three SACs have
been designated for bottlenose dolphin within UK territorial
waters. The UK currently has no proposed SACs for harbour
porpoise.
The four marine species listed above are typically wide
ranging in waters away from the coast, thus making it difficult to
identify specific areas which may be deemed essential to their life
and reproduction. Analysis of existing data for harbour porpoise
and bottlenose dolphin suggests it may not be possible
to identify suitable SACs in UK offshore waters for these
two species. For the two seal species, analysis of data from
recent tracking studies needs to be carried out to determine
if JNCC are able to identify sites for these animals whilst
they are at sea. This analysis is likely to be completed in
2008.