Also known as the Shetland Islands, it is the most northerly point of the UK. Shetland sits on a longitude 01ºW of Greenwich and latitude 60ºN and is just 400 miles south of the Arctic Circle. This is as far north as St Petersburg in Russia, or Anchorage in Alaska. Lying roughly 104 miles from the Scottish mainland, this subarctic archipelago comprises of around 100 islands and islets.
It has both deep Scottish and Scandinavian history, with Norway being only 200 miles away to the east. As such, it’s hardly surprising that the Vikings invaded the islands around 800AD and became a stronghold alongside Orkney, around 50 miles to the south. They held onto their rule of Shetland for another 200 years and was only ended by way of a marriage treaty in 1468. Control of Shetland was given to Scotland as a gift as part of this marriage between James III of Scotland and Margaret, a Danish princess.
Made famous by the ‘Shetland’ TV series, it is a popular destination for cruise ships and many tourists go on the trail for locations used in the filming of the series. It was also giving the status of the ‘6th best region in the world for tourists seeking unspoilt destinations’ by a Lonely Planet guide in 2010.
I’ve been lucky enough to visit the Shetlands twice now, and I certainly have no plans to stop going. My first visit was in April 2018, splitting my time equally between the largest island known as the ‘mainland’ and Unst, the most northerly isle. Taking the 12-hour overnight ferry from Aberdeen both times, I’ve experienced both rough and smooth crossings. On the first outing we were handed a ‘rough weather crossing’ card as we drove our car onto the ferry. Rather stupidly, I thought nothing of it initially assuming it was just a potential warning. How wrong I was after we had set sail and I was sliding back on fourth on my bed trying (and failing) to get some sleep! My second visit was at the end of June/early July 2019, when over one million seabirds return to their breeding grounds to nest.
Arriving into Shetland first thing as the ferry brings you into Lerwick is a beautiful sight. If you go in the summer months, it’s not uncommon to see a wide variety of seabirds as you come into the channel between Bressay and the mainland.
The main draw of the Shetlands for me is one mammal, hugely charismatic and such a thrill to track, a species that has been persecuted in the past but thankfully is bouncing back; the Eurasian Otter. Shetland boasts the highest density of otters in Europe and as such watching and photographing otters has become one of the island’s most popular wildlife attractions. For me, there is nothing quite like the thrill of seeing an otter in the wild, going about its daily routine on the constant search for food. Getting close enough to photograph them without disturbing them is a whole other matter.
Knowing their ecology, behaviour and stretches of coastline they use increases your chances of finding and photographing them tenfold. With that in mind, as with just about any wildlife experience, I understand the importance of local knowledge. I’ve been fortunate to have been out looking for otters with Brydon Thomason, well known as an otter expert through programmes like BBC Springwatch and Countryfile as well as having co-authored ‘Otters in Shetland - the tale of the draatsi’ (a book I strongly recommend to read if you share an interest in otters - www.shetlandnature.net/otters/otter-book), and John Moncrieff, another otter expert with a stunning portfolio of images of these elusive creatures, local to Shetland with a deep understanding of their behaviour and wildlife ethics. I’ve learnt an awful lot about what to look for in tracking otters, how to approach unseen and, ultimately, how to achieve images of them without disturbance. I’ve also been fortunate enough to watch and photograph them in different locations on Unst, Yell and the Shetland mainland.
So, in late June 2019 we set off from Aberdeen via the Northlinks ferry known as ‘MV Hrossey’ for the 12-hour overnight journey to Lerwick in Shetland. Fortunately, the crossing to Shetland was much smoother this time around than in March 2018. A little bit of experienced helped us this time too; we knew to sort showers and dinner before the ferry departed at 7pm. That way if the swell did start to get worse we could just lie down in our cabin. With excitement getting the better of me I didn’t sleep much on the way there, my mind wandering to thoughts of Otters, Puffins, Gannets and, hopefully, Orcas…
Visiting Shetland a second time around meant we already knew most of the lay of the land, so once we’d found our accommodation (I strongly recommend staying at Hillside Brae, www.hillsidebrae.co.uk, it’s lovely cottage in Gulberwick which is perfectly located to most things on the mainland), we settled in instantly and it felt like a second home.
We were greeted by glorious weather when we arrived, and this stuck around for a couple of days. While we waited for our accommodation check-in, our first outing was to walk from the Sumburgh Hotel up to the well-known Sumburgh Head RSPB site. It’s a short walk on the coastline, and we started to get our first glimpses of the seabirds that use Shetland to nest during the Spring/Summer months. As we started to walk up the hill towards the lighthouse Guillemots lined the lower cliff edges, the intoxicating smell of their guano rising up, Fulmars cackling to each other on the cliff tops, and the clowns of the sea; Puffins, could be seen zooming around and rather clumsily landing at their burrows.
We had a scheduled trip with Shetland Seabird Tours (again, I strongly recommend them - www.shetlandseabirdtours.com) for later in the week, but the forecast wasn’t looking good. So, Phil Harris, the skipper, got in touch and we rearranged to our first full day on the island. We were lucky with clear blue skies and calm water conditions as we set off mid-morning. It wasn’t long before we started to notice seabirds on the water, the first being Guillemots and Black Guillemots. Further along we were joined by a hungry Great Skua looking for food which was duly provided, and a Fulmar joined in for scraps.
As we rounded Bressay, just east of the mainland, the island of Noss came into view. The island is known as one of the most important seabird colonies in Scotland. 24,000 pairs of Guillemots, 23,000 pairs of Gannets, 10,000 pairs of Fulmars, as well as Puffins, Shags and Razorbills. It was an amazing sight to see so many Gannets flying around the cliff edge, as well as the sound of many birds all calling at the same time.
One place that I was keen to visit based on recommendation was the dramatic cliffs of Eshaness. From the car park at the lighthouse there you get an impressive view north along the cliff tops. We decided to do the 8.5 mile circular walk from Eshaness to Tangwick and back along the cliff edge/coastline.
It was along this walk that we came across a Common Seal haul out and our first Otter sighting. Having spotted some seals in a sheltered bay, I noted the area looked particularly ‘ottery’ (technical term) and within 10mins of this my partner had spotted an Otter diving in the same bay. We sat on the rocks lining the coastline here and watched this Otter move casually along the coastline and out of view. The start of our trip to Shetland was shaping up to be awesome!
Two days after visiting Eshaness we returned to Noss, but this time we took the small inflatable boat from Bressay to Noss. We then walked along the cliff edge to the ‘Noup of Noss’; an immensely impressive view of the Gannet colony that lines the cliff edge here. The main reason for visiting here was the recommended views of Puffins. While we did see Puffins here, the sighting was bitter sweet for me, for two reasons...
One, unfortunately Puffins (alongside many seabird species) are in decline. While there are a number of reasons for this, the general consensus is climate change being the main reason, disrupting food chains in the North Sea and North Atlantic, which has in turn decimated numbers of their main food source; Sand Eels. For example, in 2000 there were more than 33,000 Puffins on Shetland. In 2017, this number had dropped to 570. It’s a stark realisation of what we as humans are doing to the planet.
The second reason for my visit being bitter sweet were some ‘interesting’ practices of some tourists. Having found a spot with Puffin burrows and where they appeared to be coming to land, I watched from a distance in the hope of taking photos. Unfortunately, 3 tourists decided to try and get very close to the Puffins’ landing spot and take wide angle images. I’m all for wide angle images that show the animal in their habitat and I often advocate it as the best way to tell an animal’s story photographically, but it should never be to the detriment of the animal. It was quite clear that the actions of these tourists were preventing the Puffins from returning to their burrows with Sand Eels to feed their Pufflings. After watching this for some time we decided enough was enough, and politely explained to them the effect they were having. Fortunately, they moved a good distance away and almost straight away we had anywhere between 5 and 7 Puffins around us. The experience became much more enjoyable from this point, although I’m pretty sure they returned to their unfavourable actions as soon as I left. I aim to be an optimist and took a while to decide whether to tell this story. Don’t get me wrong, I strongly recommend people should visit Noss. It's a stunning island from both land and sea, as are its feathered inhabitants, but from an ethical point of view I think it’s important to highlight that wildlife should be given respect.
The next few days were dedicated to Otters, and what amazing days they were! Spent with John Moncrieff, we explored some areas of the mainland in search of them. We had some of the best Otter sightings I’ve had to date with two sets of separate mothers and two cubs.