SATURDAY’S rare wildlife spectacle when more than 120 bottlenose dolphins spent several hours in Vidlin Voe was by far the biggest pod ever recorded in local waters.

The pod which included several calves could be observed from late morning onwards before they were all heading out to sea again later in the day.

Pods of this size are extremely rare in Shetland’s inshore waters, with only four previous documented sitings.

Wildlife and cetacean expert Hugh Harrop from Shetland Wildlife was quickly on his way from Shetland’s southend to Vidlin.

“They were initially thought to be pilot whales but having been sent some images I suspected them to be large dolphins, almost certainly bottlenose dolphins,” he said.

“An hour or so later I was on site and watching them – they were, as suspected, bottlenose dolphins and even better, a nursery pod.

Mother and calf in Vidlin Voe on Saturday. all photos: Hugh Harrop of Shetland Wildlife.

“Like orcas, bottlenose dolphins can be identified from the size and shape of their dorsal fins so after a couple of high drone flights to get an aerial count – we later counted over 120 individuals – we took many images not only to document the sighting but also to add to any offshore bottlenose dolphin catalogues – and even find a match.

“Later in the afternoon the animals swam north out of Vidlin Voe to open water and we have received a report of them today (Sunday) in Yell Sound.

“This is only the fourth-ever documented record for Shetland inshore waters following confirmed sightings from Yell in December 2002, Unst and Yell Sound area in August 2024 and in Yell again in September 2025. This is also the largest-ever count in Shetland waters”.

There are more photos on the Shetland Orca & Cetacean Sightings Facebook page here.

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