![Common Orange Lichen (Xanthoria parietina) on Fin Whale jaw bone. Photo D.Haines [Stacked Image]](https://www.assyntwildlife.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Common-Orange-Lichen-Xanthoria-parietina-on-Fin-Whale-jaw-bone-Clachtoll-Stacked-Iamge-1400x933.jpeg){kind=link}
Whales and Lichens
Next to the Countryside Ranger’s Hut at Clachtoll there rests the jaw bone of a Fin Whale, Balaenoptera physalus. The 19.95m long whale washed up dead near Raffin on 30th October 2007. If you would like more information about the event please read this article on our website.
If you have ever seen this long bone, you may have noticed patches of orange on the side that faces the car park. These are not part of the bone but are a lichen that has attached to, and grown on the surface of the bone over the years. Apparently, it has been suggested on occasion that the lichen be removed to reveal more of the surface of the bone. Thankfully this has never been done. Removing the lichen by whatever method(s) would certainly damage the bone. The lichen would re-colonise in its own time and it is part of the ‘history’ of the bone’s existence. The other side of the bone has no such lichen present so its surface is more evident.
The lichen
This lichen has a number of common names but we’ll go with Common Orange Lichen, Xanthoria parietina. I came across this description of the lichen’s physical characteristics in an article on the British Lichen Society website. The best part of it reads “The central area of the lichen usually has jam-tart-shaped fruits consisting of orange discs with yellow margins” When I read that phrase I had to wonder if ‘Mr Kipling’ had seen that wording!
You can spot the lichen on various substrates around the car park including some of the Lewisian Gneiss rocks and at least one of the concrete-like picnic tables. This lichen prefers to grow in brightly lit situations and is very pollution tolerant. That second feature may go some way to explaining its presence around the car park margins.
Apart from all of the above it is quite beautiful, especially when you have a closer look. To that end a few images taken in January 2025 are attached. Those “jam-tart-shaped fruits consisting of orange discs with yellow margins” can been seen quite clearly.
Might have one printed for the house?
David Haines