Whaling is in the history and is part of today's Bequia and as such we took a look at it. We have never been to a bull fight, never will or to a hunt of any kind, never will. Neither of us are vegans, we wear leather shoes and belts. In this blog I have tried to lay out some facts, a bit of history and whaling in Bequia in an impartial way, difficult but here goes:

1000: Basques begin hunting right whales in Bay of Biscay region, the first true commercial whaling operation. Over the ensuing centuries, they expand slowly northward and westward, arriving off Labrador around 1540.

1611: England’s Muscovy Company sends two whaling ships to the newly-discovered Arctic island of Spitsbergen to hunt bowhead whales.

By 1613:, the waters around Spitsbergen are choked with whaling ships.

By the late seventeenth century, Dutch whalers alone send roughly 250 vessels and 18,000 men to the Arctic in search of bowheads.

1675: Yoriharu Wada begins organizing whaling crews in Taiji, Japan.

1712: Beginning of American commercial whaling, operating out of Nantucket in search of sperm whales.

1842: British explorer James Clark Ross, sailing off the Antarctic Peninsula, observes “a very great number of the largest-sized black whales,” prompting interest in the

prospects for an Antarctic whaling industry.

1863: Norwegian whaling pioneer Svend Foyn launches the Spes et Fides, the first truly steam-powered whaling ship.

1868: Foyn perfects the harpoon cannon.

1874: German whaling ship, the Grönland, heads south in search of the whales spied by Ross. It becomes the first steam ship to cross the Antarctic Circle, but fails to catch any whales.

1904: Norwegian Carl Anton Larsen establishes the first Antarctic whaling operation, at Grytviken on South Georgia. In its first twelve months, the company shoots 184 whales. Within ten years, South Georgia whalers kill 1,738 blue whales, 4,776 fin whales, and 21,894 humpback whales.

1909: First British Antarctic whaling station established on West Falkland Island.

I will go no further in time as the Japanese and Russian factory ships come into history and the numbers caught are too awful to consider “interesting” – it is surprising however there are any whales left to hunt.

Greenpeace - keep up the good work against factory ships. 

Whatever our / your feelings on the matter, the hard fact is the people of Bequia hunt whales. They are one of the few communities that the International Whaling Commission recognise as having a legitimate right to hunt under the Aboriginal Subsistence Scheme. This means that through tradition and a dependency on whale products, some native people are permitted to kill a certain number of whales per year.

FACT. The number of whales caught in seven years between 1988 and 1994 was four - one in 1988, one in 1992 and two in 1993. We don’t know about the next years but one was caught in 2008, one in 2009, so no huge numbers are involved. About 5,500 humpbacks come through these waters each year that equates to about half the total number of these magnificent beasts.

At the 39th meeting of the International Whaling Commission in 1987, the whaling in Bequia was approved as an aboriginal whaling, and a quota of three humpback whales per year was set for St. Vincent and the Grenadines from the 1987/88 whaling season. From the 1993/94 whaling season, the quota was reduced to two whales.

International Whaling Commission based in Cambridge England. This version valid as of the 25th March 2009

Gray whale Up to 140 per year may be taken by the Chukotka people of Far East Russia and Makah tribe of Washington State. USA1 1 Paragraph 13 of the Schedule does not specify which ‘aborigines’ may take the whales from an ASW quota allocated. Thus, the USA and the Russian Federation have agreed to share the gray and bowhead quota. Russia takes one bowhead per year.

Fin whale Up to 19 per year may be taken by the Inuit of Greenland.

Minke whale. Up to 12 from the Central Atlantic stock may be taken per year, plus up to 3 unused strikes from previous years. Up to 200 from the West Greenland stock may be struck per year plus up to 15 unused strikes from previous years by the Inuit of Greenland.

Bowhead whale Up to 67 to be struck per year, plus up to 15 unused strikes from previous years. No more than 280 shall be landed between 2002 and 2007. Up to 2 to be struck per year, plus up to 2 unused strikes from previous years.

Humpback whale Up to 20 ‘for the seasons 2008-2012’ may be taken by Bequians of St Vincent and the Grenadines.

At the start of each season the local priest comes to bless the boats and all the islanders join in a party. 

It is now over a century (1875) since whaling techniques were introduced to Bequia by the Americans, and whaling is now firmly entrenched as a cultural activity among the inhabitants of the island. Its economic decline began around 1910 when the industry employed as many as 100 men.

In the early days, between 1880 and 1920, there were nine shore-whaling stations throughout the Grenadines, including six on Bequia, and together they surveyed hundreds of square miles of ocean. They'd catch perhaps 15 whales in a good year, a tremendous boon to the local economy. In 1920, twenty percent of the adult male population of Bequia was employed in the whaling industry.

Five years later all that changed; a Norwegian factory ship set up operation off Grenada and annihilated the humpback population within a year and a half. Almost no whales were caught by islanders between 1925 and 1948, and none at all were caught for eight years after that. The whaling stations folded one by one, and by the 1950's only the Ollivierre family was left. Today the humpback population has recovered slightly--the IWC now considers the species "vulnerable" rather than "endangered" -- but sightings off Bequia are still rare. From 1925 humpback whaling has been limited to Bequia Island only and the industry did contribute to the economy of the island.

Now as in days gone by the whaling season on this island extends from February when the whales travel southward to the breeding grounds in the waters between Bequia and Mustique and ends in May when they migrate northwards to colder waters. There is only a small window of about four months within which to harvest these animals.

There is no wage payment in the industry, but rather a "share system" is usually adopted. The whale when caught is processed at the landing station in Petit Nevis, and the meat is distributed among the boat (i.e. boat-owner), the six crew members and the lookout. In addition, everyone who assists in the processing at the landing station receives a barrel of whale meat as a reward.

The share of each person may be sold to resident of Bequia on the spot, excluding the portion reserved for their own consumption, and gifts to their relatives and friends. Leftover meat is dry salted and sent to extended relatives and friends.

In the past, whale oil was refined from the blubber and exported, but today no refining is done on a commercial basis. The blubber is distributed in the same way as whale meat.

The distribution of whale meat by this share system and its redistribution by gifts have enabled whale meat to go around throughout Bequia (and the neighboring Caribbean islands). This fact plays an important role in the maintenance and inheritance of the whaling culture in the island and cementing family bonds.

The boat-owner pays all expenses necessary for the maintenance and operation of the whaling business including the costs of the whaling boat, harpoons, hand-lances, ropes and sails. The only exception is the cost of cartridges for bomb-lances which is paid for by all the persons involved. However, in a year where there is no catch a large risk is imposed on the boat-owner who has to pay out of his pocket for all expenses.

When a whale is brought in (row and sail until the catch - motor boat tows in the boat and carcass). "Now days dey 'ave speed boats com meet dem". In the old days rowing in was dangerous - a bottle of rum was shared, then singin' and a pullin' began. The killing of a whale prompts huge celebration, hundreds of islanders gather on Petit Nevis for the event, they shout encouragement to the returning crew. For schoolchildren the learning ends and they get the rest of the day off. "In old time days dey haulen into de noight. W'en we hear fast tow, de woman go n' to de bush to haul woods to share, to boil out blubber. We start dis evening to grind salt wid hand stone to carry de nex' day on de bayside - to wale key".

A Bequia whaleman says " W'en de whistlin' wale soun' (dives), you mus' move in de boat like you walkin' on eggs. Dem hearing is sharp, sharp." Indeed acoustic studies suggest that a humpback whale can hear another humpback singing more than fifty miles away.  Out of necessity Bequia whalemen have learned to distinguish bulls from cows, as bulls are reportedly more difficult and dangerous to approach. Bequia whalemen characterise "whistlin' wales" as lone male. Scientific studies confirm this belief.