Before we docked in Lerwick, Shetland Islands, we passed the island of Noss, on the eastern side of which a steep cliff of puzzling geology faces the sea. Wonderfully eroded into ledges and bowl-shaped holes, it vaguely reminds you of the intricate face of a Swiss cheese. It would have been worthwhile to Zodiac-cruise under these cliffs for these rocks alone, but in addition they of course are the nesting site for tens of thousands of seabirds: here the murres, the fulmars and herring gulls share hatching space with the gannet, a great plunge diver with a wing span of 6 feet. This morning they were filling the air like so many swarms of mosquitoes, a beautiful white bird with a golden cap and black wing tips. On the nests along the shelves they were tending their young, from pretty new, fluffy downy ones to large chicks in mottled dresses, soon ready to fledge. There were deep caves at sea-level , offering shelter and fine opportunities to study the inter-tidal zone's profusion of life: kelps, blue mussels, limpets and barnacles carpeting the rock. Shelter? Well, the sea was gentle and the sun really hot, so the shelter we needed was from spray of bird droppings, falling like curtains to enrich the sea. This made us all recite that old poem:
Little birdie in the sky
Dropped a message from on high.
Said angry farmer wiping eye:
"Thank God that cows can't fly!"
A gray seal popped up out of the green and gave us long looks, and the most colorful jelly fish we've seen hovered around us: lilacish blue, orange, brownish. Brown skuas were around, harassing gannets and gulls alike, the whole scene so brim-full of life that it left us all with joy-full hearts. The best opening to our short visit to the Shetlands we could have dreamt of!
