THE HISTORY OF WHALING IN THE AZORES 285 



steam-powered factories, that since the turn of the century motor-boats have been generally used for 

 towing purposes, and that in recent years radio-telephone has been introduced for communication 

 between shore and motor-boat. Yet these are adjuncts rather than modifications, for the old Sperm 

 whaling gear and the technique of hunting remain unchanged. 



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Fig. 2. Sperm whales. Annual catches for the world and for the Azores from 1910 to 1949.* 



It is the more noteworthy therefore that the Azores open boat industry has never been so flourishing 

 nor so widespread through the archipelago as it is today. Moreover, Table 1 and Fig. 2 show that, 

 during 40 years of mechanized steam whaling elsewhere, the Azores contribution to the world catch 

 of Sperm whales has never been negligible and was at one time substantial. Even in recent years, from 

 1946 to 1949, when post-war demands for sperm oil have been responsible for heavy catches by 

 factory ships in the Antarctic and off Peru, the Azores have still managed to contribute between 6 and 

 17 per cent of the world catch. 



The present report is an account of the origins, history and existing practice of open boat whaling 

 in the Azores. It results from a mission undertaken in the summer of 1949 when I was sent to the 

 Azores by the National Institute of Oceanography to investigate whales and whaling there. My stay 

 lasted ten weeks, from 22 June to 5 September. During this period I visited all the nine islands and 

 examined sixteen of the twenty-one whaling stations scattered through the archipelago (Fig. 3, p. 297 ; 

 Table 4, p. 306). Although much of my time was spent in biological work on the island of Fayal, 

 examining whale carcasses on the flensing platform at Porto Pirn, Horta, I was privileged in August to 

 sail after whales in the Fayal boats and make a 16-mm. cine-film which is believed to be a unique 

 record of this survival. 



* Azores figures for 1941 are incomplete. 



