Man spends night on ‘deadliest island in UK’ uninhabited for almost a century

The island hides a deadly secret

Situated between Garilock and Ullapool is a small island named Gruinard Island.

Widely known as ‘Anthrax Island’, it was, at one point, the deadliest island within the UK.

The island was previously exposed to anthrax as World War Two scientists carried experiments with the toxic compound. 

Bacillus anthracis, caused by exposure to anthrax, “is a rare but serious illness caused by a spore-forming bacterium”, according to the Mayo Clinic.

But this hasn’t scared off Dara Tah, the 30 year-old Irish Youtuber who adventured himself onto the anthrax imbued land.

The island is filled with history and riddled mystery.

Gruinard Island wasn’t on anyone's radar until the 1980’s, where the Scottish militant activist group ‘Dark Harvest Commandos’ demanded the UK to decontaminate the island.

The activist group gained notoriety by sending infected soil filled packages, leading to decontamination efforts years later.

A 2022 wildfire caused a big part of the island to go up in flames.

With all that information, Dara Tah and his friend, Matt James, set themselves for Gruinard.

The pair aimed to stay on the island overnight, exploring the land and testing the soil for anthrax.

It is said that breathing the air on the island is ‘deadly’, so let alone spending the night on it was to make quite the buzz. 

Dara Tah in hazmat suit. Image: Youtube/@DaraTah.

Upon slipping in hazmat suits and gas masks, Dara and his friend were quick to discover the island “to be absolutely nothing on the island, everything is just burnt.”

The Irish Youtuber revealed that the island’s natural habitat was barren, a landscape filled with “skulls” but “no wildlife.”

However, upon testing the soil’s content, Dara said: “Anthrax island is anthrax free.

“That’s so weird I can’t believe it! It’s done, they burnt it all away,” he added.

However, a report by Far Out Magazine disclosed that Gruinard Island is privately owned and becoming a place for flourishing wildlife and shoots.

Quarantined until the 1990's with much of the anthrax remaining in the soil, Gruinard Island has since been cleared of the chemical.

Yet, the island remains largely unvisited, partly due to the fact that it is privately owned.

Nonetheless, a greater reason is due to the island retaining a ‘deadly’ reputation as lingering fear lives on. 

Gruinard’s reputation still remains as a monument to the dangers of warfare and wildlife preservation.