The Humpback Whale 'Megaptera novaeangliae'. The colour is entirely black with some white on the belly pleats; Fins are the longest of any whale (about 15ft) and nearly all white with some black, and front edges scalloped and usually encrusted with barnacles. Ventral pleats extend halfway back;top of head marked by many prominent knobs which are hair follicles, 270-400 baleen plates.
WHALES AND DOLPHINS have always been man's closest companions of the sea, known and loved by millions of people. How can you kill what you have grown to love? In the case of fishermen it is not hard to understand as nearly every human society has grown used to killing fish. Fishing is a legitimate way of livelihood. And fishermen often regard anything in the sea as fish. Whales and Dolphins are not fish, they are mammals. Intelligent mammals. It is not unusual for those nations that still catch whales and dolphins to refer to them as fish. In St Vincent, pilot whales are called Blackfish.
There are only a few nations that still catch whales, Japan, Norway, and some of the West Indian islands. Most fishermen believe that killing a few whales is not going to harm their population. They see how fast tuna recover from massive fishing. But you cannot compare tuna or other fish to whales and dolphins. A female dolphin may live 35 years and have a dozen young in her life while a tuna lives only 10 years and may produce two million eggs in a single 90-day spawning season.
Whaling in Bequia has long been a tradition. Being an isolated island, Bequia has traditionally depended on whaling for fresh meat. Whaling was started in Bequia during the 1870s. Humpback and sperm whales are pursued in small (27 foot) double ended wooden sailing boats. These open boats have no engines, only sails. Engines would scare the whales. Once the boats have been blessed by the Anglican priest, the Bequia whalers set out in February. The season ends in April.
The whales are sighted by using binoculars to look for the whales spout or breach. Whalers are guided to the whale using signals from the land. Once sighted the whalers try to get behind the whale and harpoon it with a hand thrown harpoon. 'Strapping the iron ' is a term used when the end of a rope is tied to the splice at the end of the harpoon, making a becket. In the boat is a wooden rum cask cut in half in which 140 fathoms of rope is coiled. The rope passes around the 'Luggerhead' at the stern, through the bow and in turn is tied to the becket on the harpoon. Once the whale has been harpooned and goes down under, the rope is fed out with resistance from the luggerhead and when the whale returns to the surface the whaler will use another harpoon, the hand lance and shoot in the area of the heart.
When the whale has finally died, this can take some time (over two hours is not unusual), two men in masks and snorkels go over the side of the boat and tie the mouth ('sewing up the mouth') of the whale together so that it does not take in too much water when it is towed to the whaling station. It used to take five or six rowing boats to tow the whale to the whaling station, now larger motor boats are used. The whale is towed to Petit Nevis and cut up. ( 5-12 hours). The meat is shared out in proportion, among the men on the boat, on the lookout hill, and those who cut it up. The rest is sold to the islanders, on a first come first serve basis, demand for fresh meat is high and it is not unusual to see fights break out.
Bequia has Aboriginal whaling status from the IWC ( International Whaling Commission). However, opinions here are divided. St. Vincent has no interest in commercial whaling, but it should review the way in which it could receive revenue from 'Whale Watching'. Whale watching is very popular along the west coast of America and Canada and also in Scotland. Tourists want to see whales alive and swimming. Not in a Fish Market. I have seen several tourists here shocked after visiting the St. Vincent fish market and finding Flipper laid out on a slab.