The Last Whalers - An Azorean Past

No longer practiced on the islands of the Azores, but whaling was a big industry. A whale's cadaver was processed for lamp oil, candles, medicines, perfume and machinery lubricants. The blubber was melted down for oil and the bones tossed aside.

The first type of whaling done was shore whaling along the New England coast, Native Americans sent their boats out and speared one of the passing whales. This practice was followed by European settlers later. The Dutch controlled whaling during the 17th century. The British followed in the 18th century as the chief whalers, followed later by the Americans in the 19th century.

Whaling crews could be found at the Azores. Captains would disembark from New England with a skeleton crew and head for the Azores or the Cape Verde Islands looking for a supply of sailors. They liked the Portuguese because they were hard working, quiet, and cheap. The Azorean teenage male was waiting to be picked. He was seeking opportunity and a way to the United States, generally because he was fleeing military service.

In the late 1930s more than 50,000 whales were killed annually worldwide. In 1986 the International Whaling Commission banned commercial whaling.

At Cais do Pico, there is a commercial port and an old fishing harbour that played a major part in the historical activity of whale hunting. The Museu da Indústria Baleeira (the Whaling Industry Museum), housed in the old Whaleboat Factory in the town of São Roque, which was in business from 1946 to 1984. This museum was opened in May 1994 and is internationally considered to be one of the best industrial museums of its kind, exhibiting boilers, furnaces, machinery and other equipment used in the exploitation and transformation of whales into oil and flour. It offers you the chance to make an interesting discovery about the ancient practices linked to a now extinct activity.

Below is a vintage film "The Last Whalers" by William Neufeld, 1968. It documents a past way of life on the island of Pico. WARNING! You may find this disturbing to watch.



"The Last Whalers" by William Neufeld. Produced by WBN Productions, 1968. Modern Azorean shore whaling. An edited and sub-titled version is currently on exhibit in the Azorean Whalemen Gallery at the New Bedford Whaling Museum.

Ref:
Azorean and New England Whaling and Fishing
Azores Islands by Robert L. Santos

Hotel Talsiman - Ponta Delgada, Azores

Officially a 3 star hotel located in the centre of Ponta Delgada, the largest city in São Miguel Island and the Azores. Hotel Talisman is located within walking distance of most attractions and the city, with easy access to the new harbour and marina that was officially completed in 2010.

The room was large, clean and comfortable, I was fortunate to have a suite (228) with a bonus lounge/living room, king size bed, excellent bathroom (two sinks) and outdoor terrace overlooking the street below. Wifi included in the room rates.Other facilities include a fitness room, outdoor rooftop pool, with some nice views of the city and surrounding island. A restaurant and bar.

Helpful friendly staff and service. They went out of the way to try and get an early check in since I showed up so early, much appreciated. Breakfast buffet style, with enough options to satisfy most.

Hotel Talisman was a great choice, in a great location for exploring Ponta Delgada.

Hotel Talisman
Hotel Talisman on Tripadvisor

Village Life in the Azores

It's not often I return the Azores to my home town of Achada in Nordeste, São Miguel. With a population of approximately 600, situated on the northwest coast with stunning ocean views, village life becomes clearer after a few days.

Modest and simple living is the order of the day, live on what you have, waste not. Daily visits by the milk man, bread, fish, fruit, furniture, clothing, even the bank comes to your door. All having their regular routes and time of day in which they pass through the town. Just wait by the door or listen for the individual sound of bells or horns that announce that they are near, delivered and purchased at your front door.

Live off the land, eat what you grow. Share and exchange the fruits of your labour, the gardens riches. Barter services for a meal and entertainment. Look out for one another, family or not.

Festivals that last for a few days, early July celebrates Sao Pedro, with live song and dance in the small street in the town centre. A place to meet other locals and possibly see faces who return to see old family and friends. I am no stranger, all know who I am, word gets out and I'm approached by people who recall the day I once roamed here before.

Tradition means processions and rituals that remain alive, but for how long? The statue of Sao Pedro is carried around the town, down one street and up the other, passing and stopping at the village cathedral, built in 1788, where fishermen join the procession displaying their catch, a fishing nest is held among a group of women, followed by a marching band.

Religion plays a big role, a street mass is held on the Sunday. There is a lottery to see if you'll earn the right to have the saint in your home for a month in the next coming year, 12 lucky recipients.

The things that holds this together is the community. The family and existence of the neighbour and friends that bind together to call this home. A place where the origins of ancestors.

This is my first experience of life in a village, eight days. Not having a routine of work and life where days perhaps pass much quicker, my time of rest and relaxation, full days of searching for a way to pass my time, hikes down to the coastline. It takes time to learn to relax to the life of a village.

Blimey Summers, Scorching Canuks

As a fellow Canadian I completely understand the hardships of weather patterns in Toronto Canada. In 2011 it's proving to be an especially scorching summer, something that can't be said about London England.

In Toronto the swings of seasons are clear, hot summers, wet autumns, freezing winters and warm springs. Though ask any Canadian and the desire for an end to winter followed by a few months of teasing warm spring days always has us praying for those hot summer days to follow. Ah, the joy of feeling the hot air, swims in outdoor pools or lakes, BBQs, camping and all outdoor sports are welcome, because we know around the corner the summer will end and soon we'll huddle inside to our 25°C (77 F) homes of winter for six months of the year.

In England scorching is defined as 23°C (73.4 F) or more, as described by broadcasters BBC, Sky News and ITV. Summer of 2011 in the month of July has been wet and grey, that burning ball of fire in the sky is rarely visible. Of the 90 days of an English summer it rains or is cloudy for 42 days, thats approximately every other day, according to weather statistics.

London is hosting the summer Olympics of 2012, and the stadium has no roof. Whoowhaa!

Summer days rarely reach beyond 25°C (77 F), on my way to work it's just short of 20°C (68 F) and soon I'll be entering into an office building where the air conditioning will be on full. I keep a jumper in my desk to layer up when the cold air blows down the vents above me, along with the black soot that marks it's passage.

England can reduce it's carbon footprint simply by turning down or off it's unnecessary air-con units, for the number of warm days that it does get, the 4 or 5 days just do not justify such utilities, unless your in Gravesend of course - which holds the record for the hottest days.

An English summer is followed by autumn/winter, which really is about the same. Warm and cool days, more wet weather. Grey. Followed by more grey days. Winter dips down, almost 0°C (32 F) sometimes, but winters here are damp and humid, sinking deeply beyond the skin and into the bones. I find this worse than the dry winters of Toronto where the wind is the worst of it, usually an outer windproof shell is enough to hold in the layered warmth.

Warm to me is defined as 25°C (77 F), hot as 30°C+ (86 F), scorching as beyond 35°C+ (95 F). Below 20°C (68 F) is cool, below 10°C (50 F) is cold, and below 0°C (32 F) is freezing.

By my definition, summers in London are cool and warm (sometimes), grey, and rarely hot. This explains why the Mediterranean is such a popular destination for Brits. Sunshine makes you happy and feel good.

Half way through summer and still no sign of it in London, I read reports from friends in Toronto complaining about the heat - at least in Canada you get a summer.

World's first HD streaming video of planet Earth

World's first ever high definition, streaming video of planet Earth, installed on the outside of the International Space Station through a joint effort with the Russian Space Agency, the camera will provide a 40 km wide, high resolution, color image down to as close as 1.1 metres.



UrtheCast is building, launching, installing, and operating two cameras on the Russian module of the International Space Station. The station travels at 26,000 km per hour and orbits the Earth 16 times a day at an altitude of approximately 350 km.

Starting in mid-2012, video data of the Earth collected by the cameras will be down-linked to ground stations around the planet and then displayed in near real time on the UrtheCast web platform, and allow users to track the location of the International Space Station, where it can be viewed, downloaded and manipulated by Users around the world.

Users will be able to search for videos of a particular location, type or theme. Like a personal video recorder, it will allow users the ability to interact with the HD video feed in real time as it is fed from the servers. Users will be able to zoom in and out, to “virtually” steer the camera from side to side, to rewind, and to fast forward as they check out areas and things of interest on the Earth.

The UrtheCast web platform will feel like a blending of a video version of GoogleEarth with the video playback and search functionality of YouTube. It will operate seamlessly with social media sites like FaceBook and Twitter.

It will enable a new way to see major international news stories like the crisis at Fukushima, the public uprising in Tahrir square, or refugee camps in the Sudan. A rich educational perspective for viewing the wonders of the planet in a manner never before possible.

It will be new way for us to explore and see our planet from space, it will be like Google Earth in real time.

Global Debt - Countries with the Highest Debt

Global debt is increasingly becoming a serious global issue. Below is a list of countries with the highest external debts.

	Country	External Debt ($US)	Date	% of GDP
1	United States	13,980,000,000,000	2010	95%
—	European Union	13,720,000,000,000	2010	85%
2	United Kingdom	8,981,000,000,000	2010	400%
3	Germany	4,713,000,000,000	2010	142%
4	France	4,698,000,000,000	2010	182%
5	Netherlands	3,733,000,000,000	2009	471%
6	Japan	2,441,000,000,000	2010	45%
7	Ireland	2,253,000,000,000	2010	1103%
8	Norway	2,232,000,000,000	2010	538%
9	Italy	2,223,000,000,000	2010	108%
10	Spain	2,166,000,000,000	2010	154%
11	Luxembourg	1,892,000,000,000	2010	3443%
12	Belgium	1,241,000,000,000	2010	266%
13	Switzerland	1,200,000,000,000	2010	229%
14	Australia	1,169,000,000,000	2010	95%
15	Canada	1,009,000,000,000	2010	64%
16	Sweden	853,300,000,000	2010	187%
17	Austria	755,000,000,000	2010	200%
—	Hong Kong	750,800,000,000	2010	334%
18	Denmark	559,500,000,000	2010	180%
19	Greece	532,900,000,000	2010	174%
20	Portugal	497,800,000,000	2010	217%
21	Russia	480,200,000,000	2010	33%
22	China	406,600,000,000	2010	7%
23	Finland	370,800,000,000	2010	155%
24	Korea, South	370,100,000,000	2010	37%
25	Brazil	310,800,000,000	2010	15%
26	Turkey	270,700,000,000	2010	36%
27	Poland	252,900,000,000	2010	54%
28	India	237,100,000,000	2010	15%
29	Mexico	212,500,000,000	2010	20%
30	Indonesia	196,100,000,000	2010	28%
31	Argentina	160,900,000,000	2010	43%
32	Hungary	148,400,000,000	2010	115%
33	United Arab Emirates	122,700,000,000	2010	41%
34	Romania	108,900,000,000	2010	67%
35	Ukraine	97,500,000,000	2010	71%
36	Kazakhstan	94,440,000,000	2010	68%
37	Taiwan	91,410,000,000	2010	21%
38	Israel	89,680,000,000	2010	42%
39	Czech Republic	86,790,000,000	2010	45%
40	Chile	84,510,000,000	2010	42%
41	Saudi Arabia	82,920,000,000	2010	19%
42	Thailand	82,500,000,000	2010	26%
43	South Africa	80,520,000,000	2010	23%
44	Malaysia	72,600,000,000	2010	31%
45	Qatar	71,380,000,000	2010	55%
46	New Zealand	64,330,000,000	2010	46%
47	Philippines	59,770,000,000	2010	32%
48	Croatia	59,700,000,000	2010	99%
49	Slovakia	59,330,000,000	2010	68%
50	Colombia	57,740,000,000	2010	20%
51	Pakistan	57,210,000,000	2010	33%
52	Kuwait	56,810,000,000	2010	43%
53	Venezuela	55,610,000,000	2010	19%
54	Iraq	52,580,000,000	2010	64%
55	Slovenia	51,570,000,000	2010	108%
56	Bulgaria	47,150,000,000	2010	99%
57	Sudan	37,980,000,000	2010	55%
58	Latvia	37,280,000,000	2010	155%
59	Lebanon	34,450,000,000	2010	88%
60	Vietnam	33,450,000,000	2010	32%
61	Peru	33,290,000,000	2010	22%
62	Cyprus	32,610,000,000	2010	129%
63	Serbia	30,900,000,000	2010	80%
64	Egypt	30,610,000,000	2010	14%
65	Lithuania	27,600,000,000	2010	76%
66	Estonia	25,130,000,000	2010	127%
67	Belarus	24,800,000,000	2010	45%
68	Bangladesh	24,460,000,000	2010	23%
69	Morocco	22,690,000,000	2010	22%
70	Singapore	21,660,000,000	2010	10%
71	Cuba	19,750,000,000	2010	34%
72	Tunisia	18,760,000,000	2010	42%
73	Monaco	18,000,000,000	2010	680%
74	Angola	17,980,000,000	2010	21%
75	Sri Lanka	17,970,000,000	2010	36%
76	Guatemala	17,470,000,000	2010	42%
77	Ecuador	14,710,000,000	2010	25%
78	Bahrain	14,680,000,000	2010	65%
79	Panama	13,850,000,000	2010	52%
80	Congo, Democratic Republic of the	13,500,000,000	2009	122%
81	Uruguay	13,390,000,000	2010	33%
82	Dominican Republic	13,090,000,000	2010	25%
83	Iran	12,840,000,000	2010	4%
84	Jamaica	12,660,000,000	2010	92%
85	Korea, North	12,500,000,000	2001	N/A
86	Cote d'Ivoire	11,600,000,000	2010	51%
87	El Salvador	11,450,000,000	2010	53%
88	Nigeria	11,020,000,000	2010	5%
89	Oman	8,829,000,000	2010	16%
90	Costa Rica	8,550,000,000	2010	24%
91	Bosnia and Herzegovina	7,996,000,000	2010	48%
92	Kenya	7,935,000,000	2010	25%
93	Syria	7,682,000,000	2010	13%
94	Zimbabwe	7,662,000,000	2010	103%
95	Tanzania	7,576,000,000	2010	33%
96	Yemen	7,147,000,000	2010	23%
97	Burma	7,145,000,000	2010	17%
98	Ghana	6,483,000,000	2010	21%
99	Libya	6,378,000,000	2010	9%
100	Malta	5,978,000,000	2010	72%
101	Laos	5,797,000,000	2010	91%
102	Jordan	5,522,000,000	2010	20%
103	Macedonia	5,485,000,000	2010	60%
104	Armenia	5,227,000,000	2010	56%
105	Mauritius	5,043,000,000	2010	52%
107	Turkmenistan	5,000,000,000	2009	25%
106	Congo, Republic of the	5,000,000,000	2000	155%
108	Mozambique	4,990,000,000	2010	50%
109	Moldova	4,618,000,000	2010	79%
110	Nepal	4,500,000,000	2009	35%
111	Cambodia	4,338,000,000	2010	37%
112	Trinidad and Tobago	4,303,000,000	2010	21%
113	Ethiopia	4,289,000,000	2010	14%
114	Uzbekistan	4,236,000,000	2010	11%
115	Algeria	4,138,000,000	2010	3%
116	Nicaragua	4,030,000,000	2010	62%
117	Senegal	3,885,000,000	2010	30%
118	Kyrgyzstan	3,738,000,000	2010	81%
119	Honduras	3,540,000,000	2010	23%
120	Zambia	3,495,000,000	2010	22%
121	Georgia	3,381,000,000	2009	31%
122	Cameroon	3,344,000,000	2010	15%
123	Azerbaijan	3,221,000,000	2010	6%
124	Liberia	3,200,000,000	2005	590%
125	Iceland	3,073,000,000	2002	35%
126	Guinea	3,072,000,000	2009	68%
127	Somalia	3,000,000,000	2001	N/A
128	Madagascar	2,973,000,000	2010	36%
129	Benin	2,894,000,000	2009	43%
130	Uganda	2,888,000,000	2010	17%
131	Bolivia	2,864,000,000	2010	15%
132	Albania	2,810,000,000	2009	23%
133	Mali	2,800,000,000	2002	88%
134	Afghanistan	2,700,000,000	2008	22%
135	Paraguay	2,445,000,000	2010	13%
136	Gabon	2,374,000,000	2010	18%
137	Namibia	2,373,000,000	2010	20%
138	Botswana	2,222,000,000	2010	16%
139	Niger	2,100,000,000	2003	79%
140	Burkina Faso	2,002,000,000	2010	23%
141	Tajikistan	1,997,000,000	2010	35%
142	Mongolia	1,860,000,000	2009	41%
143	Chad	1,749,000,000	2008	21%
144	Sierra Leone	1,610,000,000	2003	61%
145	Papua New Guinea	1,548,000,000	2010	16%
146	Seychelles	1,374,000,000	2010	147%
147	Malawi	1,213,000,000	2010	24%
148	Burundi	1,200,000,000	2003	202%
149	Central African Republic	1,153,000,000	2007	68%
—	West Bank	1,040,000,000	2010	N/A
150	Belize>	1,010,000,000	2009	75%
151	Eritrea	961,900,000	2008	58%
152	Maldives	943,000,000	2010	50%
153	>Guinea-Bissau	941,500,000	2000	259%
154	Bhutan	836,000,000	2009	64%
155	Equatorial Guinea	832,000,000	2010	6%
156	Guyana	804,300,000	2008	42%
157	Barbados	668,000,000	2003	22%
158	Montenegro	650,000,000	2006	24%
159	Lesotho	647,000,000	2010	30%
160	Gambia, The	530,000,000	2010	50%
161	Suriname	504,300,000	2005	28%
162	Swaziland	497,000,000	2010	14%
163	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	479,000,000	2010	85%
—	Aruba	478,600,000	2005	21%
164	Djibouti	428,000,000	2006	56%
165	Antigua and Barbuda	359,800,000	2006	36%
166	Haiti	350,000,000	2010	5%
167	Grenada	347,000,000	2004	74%
168	Bahamas, The	342,600,000	2004	6%
169	Cape Verde	325,000,000	2002	52%
170	Sao Tome and Principe	318,000,000	2002	349%
171	Saint Kitts and Nevis	314,000,000	2004	79%
172	Saint Lucia	257,000,000	2004	32%
173	Comoros	232,000,000	2000	115%
174	Dominica	213,000,000	2004	75%
175	Samoa	177,000,000	2004	47%
176	Solomon Islands	166,000,000	2004	44%
—	Bermuda	160,000,000	1999	5%
—	Cook Islands	141,000,000	1996	N/A
177	Fiji	127,000,000	2004	5%
178	Marshall Islands	87,000,000	2008	54%
179	Vanuatu	81,200,000	2004	22%
180	Tonga	80,700,000	2004	33%
—	New Caledonia	79,000,000	1998	3%
—	Cayman Islands	70,000,000	1996	7%
—	Faroe Islands	68,100,000	2006	N/A
181	Micronesia, Federated States of	60,800,000	2005	25%
—	Greenland	58,000,000	2009	5%
—	British Virgin Islands	36,100,000	1997	N/A
182	Nauru	33,300,000	2004	N/A
183	Kiribati	10,000,000	1999	14%
—	Montserrat	8,900,000	1997	N/A
—	Anguilla	8,800,000	1998	N/A
—	Wallis and Futuna	3,670,000	2004	N/A
—	Niue	418,000	2002	N/A
—	Macau	0	2010	0%
184	Brunei	0	2005	0%
185	Liechtenstein	0	2001	0%
186	Palau	0	1999	0%

Source: List of countries by external debt