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Beachcombing in Shetland: I’ve travelled the world without leaving home
02.04.2024 - 11:27 / theguardian.com
Before I had children, my work as a research scientist meant frequent travel. I specialised in nature conservation and discovered that I was pregnant with my first child on a visit to an Ethiopian colleague’s field site in the Bale Mountains. The motherhood penalty in academia is high, and when my husband was offered a post in Shetland, I handed in my notice in the hope of finding a new job that would allow a better work-life balance.
We relocated north on the overnight ferry from Aberdeen, and despite a rough voyage and sea sickness, I was immediately smitten. Shetland is an archipelago of more than 100 islands, 16 of which are inhabited. Weather moves fast here and there is a constant play of light on a sea scattered with islands. I was excited to live in a place where there is always a chance of seeing a pod of orcas.
The first year of living in Shetland was marred by two miscarriages, but the next pregnancy held and my daughter was born. When the high cost of childcare locked me out of employment, I started to lose my sense of self. To keep my mind busy, I came up with a plan to walk Shetland’s coastline, all 1,679 rugged miles of it, section by section, when my husband could care for our children. I pored over maps and imagined walking along wild cliffs and finding hidden beaches. I couldn’t wait to get started.
But it was not to be. My body behaved strangely in the months after the birth. Pregnancy had triggered the onset of rheumatoid arthritis and damaged the joints between my pelvis and spine. Pain and fatigue made it difficult to care for my young children when my husband was at work. I became isolated, and depression set in.
It is strange to write this now, but I found my way forward by counting dead seabirds. Along with much marine litter, tides wash the bodies of stricken seabirds ashore. When my daughter was still a baby, I volunteered to monitor two beaches. I could park right next to each beach and walk slowly along the strandlines. My task was to count each bird, note the species and check its plumage for oil to collect data for a survey initiated in the late 1970s following the construction of Shetland’s oil and gas terminal.
My first survey was on a bitterly cold February day. The person training me paused to pluck a piece of plastic from the strandline. He handed it to me and explained that it was a lobster trap tag from Newfoundland or Labrador. I returned home with a pocket full of beach treasure and the feeling that a door had opened. I soon spent all of my spare time beachcombing, searching the shore for the strange and curious things that the tide leaves behind.
Beachcombing got me outside in all weathers and my mental health improved. I whiled away dark winter evenings
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