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✅Whaling in the Azorean Seas

Whaling was an activity of great importance to the Azorean economy, especially in the 19th and 20th centuries. It also became a hallmark and a symbol of Azorean identity.

The earliest references to the capture of cetaceans in the Azorean seas can be found in Gaspar Frutuoso’s writings, dating back to the year 1575. There are also records of the presence of English whalers in the 17th century and, more notably, American whalers in the second half of the 18th century.

However, the Azoreans' interest in whaling developed later. In 1806, an American citizen, John Bass Dabney, a member of a wealthy Boston merchant family, settled in the city of Horta. He founded the firm Dabney & Sons and became the first U.S. consul in the Azores. The presence of the Dabney family on the island of Faial significantly influenced the city's economic, social, and cultural life for nearly a century, contributing to the cosmopolitan character that still defines it today.

In 1826, his son Charles William Dabney succeeded him. As part of his commercial activities, particularly as a shipchandler, he actively promoted the port of Horta among American shipowners.

Carlos Dabney’s efforts were so successful that in 1827, six American whaling ships arrived at Horta’s port. The following year, fifteen came; the next year, thirty-seven; then sixty-four, then eighty-seven, and the numbers continued to rise. By 1839, the port received 169 whaling ships, and by 1841, that number had grown to 180.

This increase in maritime traffic in Horta and other Azorean ports attracted the interest of the local maritime community. American whaling ships, primarily from New England—especially from New Bedford and Nantucket—stopped in the Azores during their long Atlantic campaigns.

These ships stocked up in Azorean ports and recruited men to reinforce their crews, improving their whaling operations. Many young Azoreans joined these vessels; some settled on the East Coast of the United States to start a new life, while others returned to their islands, bringing back new ideas, techniques, and whaling tools.

Horta had become the primary base for American whaling ships. Many docked there to resupply and to offload or transfer thousands of barrels of whale oil.

The experience gained aboard American whalers, along with support from Dabney & Sons, led to the formation of the first Azorean whaling companies. Their boats were adapted from American models, but instead of using large offshore whaling ships, the Azoreans developed coastal whaling. Since many whales were found near the shore, lookout posts were established on land. When a whale was spotted, the crew was alerted, and they quickly set out—by sail or oars—to harpoon the whale.

Their boats, known as canoes or whaleboats, were manned by seven men: a harpooner at the bow, rowers, and an officer at the stern who steered the vessel with a long rudder.

The first whaling enterprises are believed to have started on the island of Flores, followed by the island of Pico. In 1876, a whaling company was established through a public contract between Dabney & Sons and the renowned Captain Anselmo, a resident of Calheta do Nesquim. Later, whaling companies were formed in the villages of Topo and Velas on São Jorge Island. Soon, whaling societies and enterprises spread across ports on all Azorean islands, along with processing factories that produced whale oil and meal. These industries brought prosperity to local populations but also led to some tragedies. Although whaling was practiced throughout the Azores, the island of Pico quickly became the central hub of the whaling industry.

Statistics on whaling were only compiled from 1949 onward. Between then and 1965, the industry operated with around sixty motorized boats (launches) and about 150 sailing and rowing boats (canoes or whaleboats), with an annual average capture of 510 sperm whales.

The whaling era had its chroniclers, but José Dias de Melo, a native of Calheta do Nesquim, stands out not only for his "novelized chronicles" but also for a work that serves as both a testimony and a historical document.

By the late 1960s, whaling in the Azores began to decline due to economic factors, international whaling regulations, and conservation efforts. Despite using traditional methods, including manual harpooning, thousands of whales had been hunted in the Azorean seas.

However, the end of whaling did not happen simultaneously across all the Azorean islands. In Santa Maria and Corvo, whaling ceased in the early 20th century. On other islands, it continued for many years, ending in Graciosa in 1982, Faial in 1984, and Pico in 1987, largely due to pressure from the European Economic Community, which Portugal had joined.

Today, the whaling tradition has been replaced by a new tourism-based activity—whale watching. However, the memory of whaling remains strong, especially in the Central and Western Group islands, through museums, the preservation of whaleboats and launches, and the art of scrimshaw—engraving and carving on sperm whale teeth and bones—which can still be seen in various museums and private collections.

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