Pictures of Azorean Whalers: The Last of Their Kind

Fading Memories
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
The battle between man and whale has never been easy. Rowers strain at the oars while a harpooner braces at the bow, taking aim at a leviathan in a sea roiling with waves.
But changing technologies such as exploding harpoon tips (invented in 1860) that were meant to quickly kill whales, cranes and bulldozers to move their carcasses, and motorboats that zip hunters to a potential target, have radically changed the nature of the hunt for many whaling communities over the last century.
But one whaling community steadfastly refused to adopt the new ways of hunting these marine giants—specifically sperm whales. Whalers in the Azores (map) in the eastern Atlantic used oars, sails, and hand-thrown harpoons right up until 1987.
One key factor in the death knell for Azorean whaling: Portugal, which claims the archipelago that lies about a thousand miles (1,600 kilometers) off its coast, joined the European Union, which had formally adopted a ban on commercial whaling in 1982—although it was not fully implemented until 1986.
The last Azorean factory which processed whale carcases for their meat and oil closed in 1984, although a few whales were still taken until 1987.
Unlike many communities with a spiritual or traditional component to their whaling activities, whalers in the Azores engaged in the practice for purely economic reasons.
"People went into it for the money," explains Tufts graduate student Gemina Garland-Lewis. That's what attracted young men on the islands to join up with U.S. whaling boats from New England in the 1700s.
The islanders' descendants preferred to use the tools their forebears hunted with right into the 20th century.
Although the Azorean whalers adopted the use of motorboats to tow whaleboats toward sperm whale sightings, approaching the animal and getting into position was performed under sail or using oars. Crews killed their quarry with hand-thrown harpoons and reeled in lines with their hands.
But with the shuttering of the industry in the mid-1980s, men like 75-year-old Manuel Garcia Tavares Jr. became the last of a generation that knew what it was like to hunt the huge animals using these older techniques.
Although Tavares—pictured above sitting in a whaling storehouse on the island of Faial last August—had whalers in his family, he never had an interest in going out to sea, preferring to work in the whaling factories on land.
In order to document this unique whaling culture, Garland-Lewis—a National Geographic Young Explorer—spent six weeks in the Azores last year, collecting stories and taking photographs.
"[Whaling] was a really large chunk of the economy for a long time—almost everyone has a whaler in their family," says Garland-Lewis, who is now studying agriculture and disease in Africa, said in a recent interview. "Even though none of the young people [on the island] want Portugal to start whaling again, they still hold a very great respect for these men."
Now, the whaleboats are used by the next generation in sailing races. And though whales are still part of the island economy, they are now tourist attractions during whale watching trips.
—Jane J. Lee
Published June 13, 2013
Old Methods
Photograph by O. Louis Mazzatenta, National Geographic
"Normally, when a culture of whaling persists into modern times, it has a traditional or spiritual component," Garland-Lewis says.
But for Azorean whalers—such as this one, pictured delivering a fatal blow to a sperm whale in a National Geographic image from August 1975—the practice was purely economic.
Whaling boats from New England in the 1700s would stop off in the Azores to pick up cheap labor. The young men on the islands needed jobs, so they joined up.
"It was brought to them by American whalers, they adapted it, and saw the economic potential in it," Garland-Lewis says. "So when that market died out, whaling died out."
Published June 13, 2013
Sunrise Regatta
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
Although Azores' whaling culture is dying out, whaleboats there have found new life as racing crafts. The younger generation uses them to participate in sailing competitions between the nine islands that comprise the archipelago.
Here, a whaleboat named Senhora da Guia, after the patron saint of whalers on the island of Faial, is towed toward the island of Pico (map) for a regatta last August. The vessels are painted bright colors specific to their village of origin, allowing spectators to tell them apart at sea.
Published June 13, 2013
Survivor
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
While waiting for a whaleboat race on the island of Pico to begin, 77-year-old José Silveira Jorge (pictured) was more than happy to sit in the afternoon sun and tell Garland-Lewis about the time he fell into a sperm whale's mouth.
He was a harpooner on a crew that had been chasing a sperm whale nearly 50 years ago. After landing a particularly deep hit with his harpoon, Jorge watched as the injured whale slipped under the bow of the boat.
The animal proceeded to flip Jorge and three of his fellow whalers into the water. Jorge ended up impaled on one of the whale's teeth as it began to dive down.
The animal soon let him go, and the harpooner was able to swim back up to the boat. But the whale followed, smashing him against the hull and breaking three of his ribs.
Another boat came along and pulled Jorge in. He ended up in the hospital with puncture wounds to his abdomen. He was lucky though—there was no damage to any of his internal organs. After a five-month recovery, Jorge was back on the water and whaling.
Published June 13, 2013
Patron Saint
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
Senhora da Guia (pictured), the patron saint of whalers on the Azorean island of Faial (map), is honored with a mass and a procession.
During the Semana do Mar festival, which occurs every August, the saint's likeness is brought down from a church at the top of Monte da Guia and carried to the bay of Porto Pim, where she blesses each of the whaleboats.
The statue is then placed into her own boat and ferried to the nearby town of Horta, where she completes her journey by being carried up to a second church.
Published June 13, 2013
Flood of Memories
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
Alberto Macedo Brum, now 83, was 15 when he started whaling. He eventually became a harpooner.
Although he walks with the aide of crutches, Brum decided to climb into the whaleboat (above) when Garland-Lewis asked to take his picture.
"Years of memories were flooding his face as he looked [the boat] up and down," she says.
Published June 13, 2013
Remnants
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
An old bottle of sperm whale oil lies abandoned in a factory on the island of Faial. Historically, whale oil was used in a variety of products, from lamp oil to cosmetics, and it was even a component of nitroglycerin—an explosive—for use in both World Wars.
Published June 13, 2013
Aging Harpooner
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
Recil Brum Silva, 83, sits on his couch with two pictures, one of the largest whale he ever harpooned (left) and another of him with Senhora da Lourdes, the patron saint of whalers on the island of Pico.
Silva worked as a harpooner for 20 years, right up until the industry shut down in the Azores in the mid-1980s.
Published June 13, 2013
Woodworker
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
After 36 years in the whaling industry, 76-year-old Manuel Homem da Silva is now a woodworker, helping to build whaleboats for regattas and museums both locally and in the United States. He is pictured here with a wooden harpoon he made.
"He was the only man I spoke to who said that his least favorite part of whaling was that he had to kill whales," says Garland-Lewis. "He said no one likes killing another creature, but it's what they had to do to survive."
Published June 13, 2013
Jack of All Trades
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
Almorindo Pimentel de Lemos held many positions in the whaling industry, including as a harpooner and as a lookout, watching for whales and signaling the boat crews when one was sighted. The 68-year-old started out as a rower on a whaleboat at age 25.
Here he stands in an old whaleboat house in his village on the island of Pico, surrounded by pictures of other whalers from his community.
Published June 13, 2013
Part-Timer
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
A part-time whaler, Manuel Correia would run down to the whaleboats whenever he heard the rockets go off, signaling that lookouts had spotted a whale. If the boats needed an extra man, he'd jump in to earn extra cash.
The 84-year-old now gives tours of the old whaling factory on the island of Faial.
Published June 13, 2013
Oldest Whaler
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
At 96 years old, José Lourenço Azevedo is the oldest whaler still alive in the islands, Garland-Lewis says.
Published June 13, 2013
Whalers Week
Photograph by Gemina Garland-Lewis
A wooden likeness of a harpooner stands ready during Whalers Week on the island of Pico. Held annually during the last week of August, the festival celebrates the whalers, as well as their patron saint Senhora da Lourdes, in the village of Lajes do Pico.
The festival has been happening for more than a hundred years—ever since villagers in Lajes invoked the saint to watch over the whalers and bring them home safely.
Published June 13, 2013