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.
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.