Whaling in Bequia

Bequia in St Vincent and The Grenadines has a long tradition of whaling as well as the building of boats and not only whaling boats and model boats.Bequia is one of the few communities in the world where limited whaling is still allowed by the International Whaling Commission.

Native Bequians are currently allowed a quota of twenty humpback whales over a five year period ending in 2012 for subsistence purposes.Aboroginal subsistance whaling is also allowed for Denmark(Greenland),Russian Federation(Siberia),USA(Alaska)

Bequians must hunt with traditional methods using hand held harpoons thrown from small sailed wooden boats launched from the shore,powered by sail and oars which are only 8 meters long and less than half the size of an average whale

The whaling season begins in February with the blessing of the double ended open boat in Friendship Bay but the whalers rarely catch their limits and some years fortunately do not catch any.

One can see evidence of the Bequian whaling traditions in the The Whale Bone bar and restaurant on the waterfront where you enter under an archway of whale bones,sit on whale vertebrae,a whale rib running the length of the bar and in Bequia whaling and Maritime Museum with whales bones,exhibitions on the whaling history,fine exhibits of model boats,old black and white pictures of shooners built in Bequia ...but it was closed when we were in Bequia!





whale or not whale?