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Shares
Having recently relocated to Shetland, I was desperate to embrace the new lifestyle and experience the best of Shetland. It didn’t take long for me to remember the Underwater Shetland promotional leaflet which I acquired on the ferry to the island. It was exactly what I wanted and the experience didn’t let me down. I booked the slightly longer 3.5 hour Noss trip and was so glad I did because any extra time you can get with the colourful hosts, Robbi and Alan, is time well spent. I’ll skip past their friendly and welcoming attitudes because I’d like to focus on the qualities they possess that are rarely found in tour guides. Qualities that come from within. Alan and Robbi are genuine, they haven’t been told to smile at the patrons, they do it naturally because they want to. They’re passionate about Shetland and what they can show and teach you and their enthusiasm is contagious. You can’t help but be infected by the wonder they feel for this environment and it’s diverse collection of wildlife inhabitants, regardless of the hundreds of times they have taken people on this same trip. Their brains are seeping with information throughout the trip; Alan is a story teller, he loves to tell tales of Shetland’s history - places, people and events. Robbi is the biologist who enjoys explaining what we’re looking at in the most animated and enthusiastic manner that would outshine a pantomime dame. She doesn’t lecture you, although she easily could, but provides an interactive dialogue with her guests where every question and comment is welcomed, respected and responded to, regardless of how basic or ignorant it may be. They’re an endearing couple with a lot of passion and belief in what they’re offering with this trip. The adventure takes you from Lerwick to Bressay sound and around Noss. The fascinating yet peculiar cliffs bare the multiple rock types of which they are formed, an understandable reason for Shetland’s reputation as a geologist's playground. We were lucky to have a calm sunny day allowing Alan to delicately steer us under the impressive “Giant’s Leg” rock arch. Puffins flew by, gannets dived for fish and the great skua chased our boat until a brave Robbi held out a biscuit which the bird happily took from her outstretched hand mid flight. The breathtaking proximity of these magnificent birds was thrilling. Perhaps the more dreamlike part of this adventure was observing the brilliant bird colonies on the cliffs of Noss. Thousands of birds fight for space in this densely populated habitat. We came face to face with the younger birds at the bottom of the cliffs; the lower in rank. Altitude on the cliffs increases with age and power, each jagged ledge above the other a higher class. Layers of flying birds swooped and soared above us, feathers floated down and excrement dropped into the sea, or onto the unfortunate lower class birds at the bottom of the cliffs. I found the large, strong gannets quite charismatic. They skilfully and elegantly sword fight together with their beaks and lengthening necks; a greeting ritual. Their broad wing span impresses in flight and adds to their grace. I suspect the underwater sections of this trip might be Robbi’s favourite. We watched a live video feed from an underwater camera. We didn’t know what to expect or see but Robbi identified life in every corner of the screen and didn’t hold back sharing her knowledge with us which was wonderful. From anemones to sea urchins, crabs to starfish, we saw much more interesting creatures than I had anticipated. Possibly the most enlightening of all was at the end of our adventure with Alan and Robbi when they put a few drops of sea water onto a microscope. The image was fed into a monitor exposing several otherwise invisible micro organisms swimming around in those few random drops. Life is everywhere. Underwater Shetland is a wonderful learning experience. Alan and Robbi couldn’t be more generous with their information, their time and of course their home - the Galathea boat.