Yell Sound
Coordinates: 60°34′10″N 1°15′36″W / 60.5694°N 1.26°W Yell Sound is the strait running between Yell and Mainland, Shetland, Scotland. It is the boundary between the Mainland and the North Isles and it contains many small islands. Sullom Voe, on the shores of which is a substantial oil terminal, is an arm of Yell Sound.
The ferry to the North Isles crosses the sound, which can experience strong tides and adverse weather conditions. There are numerous shipwreck sites and several lighthouses to guide shipping. Yell Sound is mentioned briefly in the medieval Orkneyinga saga and during the 19th century there was a short flourishing of the kelp industry. Commercial fishing has long been a mainstay of the local economy and part of the sound is as Special Area of Conservation set up to protect the local wildlife.
The Old Norse name was Alasund although the original meaning of the name is not clear. Yell Sound is mentioned briefly in the Orkneyinga saga:
The north western approaches to the sound are guarded by a series of small islands north of the Point of Fethland, which is the northernmost land of Northmavine on the Shetland Mainland. The largest of these islands is Gruney and a small archipelago of reefs and skerries lies north of there known as the Ramna Stacks including (from north to south) Gaut Skerries, Outer Stack, Scordar, Turla, Hyter, Ofoora, Fladda, Flae-ass, and Barlcudda.
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