UNESCO Red Bay, Labrador | Birthplace of the World’s First Large Scale Whale Oil Industry

Canadian province of Labrador, which is part of Newfoundland and Labrador, Labrador being the mainland portion, Newfoundland being the big island, and we'll be coming through the Straits of Belle Isle, Red Bay, which is a UNESCO designated World Heritage Site. The Basque appeared in the Saint Lawrence and in this side of the North Atlantic most likely well before the French ever arrived to discover their version of the New World. Red Bay gets its name from the red granite cliffs of Labrador's south coast. It is a fishing village and home to an important Basque whaling station dating back to the mid-16th to early 18th century. Considered home of the first large-scale whale oil production in the world, Red Bay was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2013. It is also an important underwater archaeological site with discovery of three Basque whaling galleons, four small chalupas, which are sloops, used in the capture of whales and a small boat once used to harpoon whales. And that is the whole purpose of the Boney Shore Walk. It's roughly 1.2 miles or 2 kilometers. It's uneven, rocky, and sandy ground along the shoreline. And you'll be going out on a stroll to view the stunning geology, to see all the old whale bones. It's about one and a half hours straight up the staircase, all 698 of them, and all the way back down again. The UNESCO designation on Saddleback Island. Because this is where many Basque remains were found, a lot of clay, various clay objects, the old Basque ovens and the clay tripods. There's a lot, a lot of archaeology on this isle that you'll be able to view. It is a little bit of up and down, gentle rolling. Tomorrow, I suspect, we'll be arriving on time. But we do need to contend with the currents in the Strait of Belle Isle. Our show this afternoon is Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. Claudette. So the Basque hunted two types Claudette. Claudette. of whales. It was the Greenland right whale, which is a bowhead, and the North Atlantic right whale. So this one here is a juvenile bowhead, got its name for this shape right here. All of this is the lower G's, guys. Not the biggest whales, but they do have the largest mouths in the animal. Missing the tail and flippers. The first thing, of course, the Basque did when they came in is they severed the tail and flipper. This one is made up of several different whales, just like the human hand. So whales, horses, cats, humans, we all have the same bone structure. So again, you get a quick chance to look at that. This line flat back here under the rib cage. So again, it's the same bone structure, used model. So back in the day when we had the sled dog and the comedy. We would take a rib bone and we would smooth that out and make it shiny and make it like a piece of plastic and we would attach that to the runner of accommodate. So we would make a shoe out of it, it would go on the runner and it made it easier for the sled dogs to pull. Probably two or three cuts and you'd put legs on it and that was a stool. Not in my day. There is a couple stools floating around here but not in my time. In my day and Christopher's this was a doorstop. So our winters were harsh for the coastline as they're moving through. When they're killed, they float. Every one of these lines you see here are these plates. So a right whale can have up to 270 of these plates at 15 feet. Only goes attached to the upper jaw, it hangs loose on the bottom. So what they do, they take in all this water and all the plankton and then they lift up their huge tongues. The tongue will slide up. As the tongue comes up, all the water is going to get pressed out through this hair. The calf was 8 to 10 months old. Still needed to be with mom. They didn't think he was going to survive. They called him Kelvin. The thing with the right whale, they are on the endangered list. They'll stay with it. And the whole time they're using this big head. So an orca with a big dorsal fin, not going to get around all over here, is 43 feet. I don't know if they care what they kill, if they can live to over 200 years old. Yeah, so they have a huge lifespan. This exhibit, like I said, was done in the fall. Well, we opened in 2014. Hi! You are so cute. Thank you. This is some flowers. Next, it's going to be a Labrador feast. Today when I found the This thing's better than this one. Shrimp and dip, this is all the case. Partridge berry, tartar flavor, and high end, thin lower compounds. So, Partridge berry, ptarmigan soup, partridge. There's no blubber today, all gone, this is very, very nice. Yes, it's great. This is what the Labradorite looks like when it's polished. It's a purple-green color. Let's talk trivia about my new Labradorite. It is the provincial stone of Newfoundland and Labrador. A stone that is over 1.3 billion years old. The Inuit believe that Labradorite fell from the frozen fire of the northern lights. Some of the glittering aurora is still trapped in the stone. It is a stone of magic, a crystal for shamans, diviners, and healers. My favorite little puffins. Okay, I'm probably the only one who's been there done it, and I'm ready to get some shopping all set. My chauffeur and my limo await to go back to the ship and have some wine, vino. Thank you very much, everybody. You're welcome.