09/09/2023 At sea. and Red Bay Labrador
Master is finding his pills very useful, as the sea is definitely more active now. We are heading across the Labrador Sea towards to Red Bay, Labrador. Most of this day is at sea. We don't get to Red Bay till this afternoon. So we decided to listen to Brendan's Talk about 'Seeking a safe haven' this was about Seabirds and their colonies. Brendan's talk did not disappoint. Seabirds form mixed species colonies, as doing this can help each other with different strategies for spotting predators. It is interesting to note that there is an abundance of food in both the Artic and Antarctic for these birds. But there is a greater number of birds species in the Antarctic than the Artic. On islands in the Southern Ocean, where Wandering Albatross breed, they are gradually speciating and changing, because they always go back to the island where they hatched, to breed when mature. Some birds such as Storm Petrels nest under ground and one bird stays on the nest all day while its mate is out over the sea feeding, only coming back to the nest after dark. Then it swaps over with its mate.
The weather has turned very damp and misty, we will need our waterproofs for this afternoon, as there is quite a lot of walking to do between venues. Lunch was had in Fredheim today.
Red Bay was an important Whaling station for Basque Whalers, who came from Northern Spain and France. They would catch and process whales and load the oil, baleen etc. onto Spanish Galleons to take back to Spain. Whaling in Red Bay began in the 1530s. As a consequence of probably over loading and weather there are at least 4 wrecks in the harbour at Red Bay. The Whalers went out in a rowing boats they were called 'Chalupas' They had 6 men rowing, one at the tiller and one of the rowers would double up as the Harpoon thrower. The Large Baleen Whales they targeted were Right Whale and Bowhead. These Whales are surface feeders and were easy to catch. The Chalupa was about 18 feet long and the Baleen from an adult Bowhead Whale is 14 feet long. A Chalupa was found in the bay beneath a Spanish Galleon. The Chalupa has now been reconstructed and is in a new interpretation centre. In 2025 the Whale centre, which is located in the village hall at the moment, is moving to this new building where there is more room. It was quite a walk to the Whale Centre from the new building and when we got there it was full of RA's passengers trying to get round a tiny room full of Whale remains. It will be so much better when it moves. Red Bay is not a big village but it is quite spread out, Pretty Whitewashed wooden houses and Church and an interesting Graveyard. Though we didn't go into either. On our way back to the Ship was a museum and cafe. We looked around the museum, again that was quite crowded and then we went over to the cafe where there was also a shop. Many of the passengers were having refreshments and home made cake, also the gift shop was full of passengers too. We bought some fridge magnets, Master bought a cap, Missus bought a 'T' shirt and also found a recipe book. Missus always looks for a recipe book from places we have visited. I hope she makes something tasty from it for us all to try when we get home.
They got back to us at about 5pm, Morgan and I were worried they might miss the last boat back. They were very cold and needed to have a warm shower to make them feel more human again. Then they left us again and went back to Fredheim, this time they had Coffee and Crepes. Hey we would like some of those too you know!
In the morning we had listened to a talk by Laszlo the 'Hotel' Manager. He spoke about the Hurtigruten Foundation the runs projects in places they visit to benefit the people and wild life. There is a green label we can put on the door to our suite which says 'Green Stay' this means that you do not need your room serviced that day. Every time you do that Hurtigruten donate 50cents (Euros)to the Foundation. Laszlo was also asked about provisioning the ship and what happens to the waste food, they have Bio-digesters on board. So by the time it is emptied there is very little waste left.
We all had our sleep disturbed tonight, there were people moving furniture around on the deck (10) above our heads. It sounded as though they were dragging the furniture. Must remember to say something to Laszlo in the morning.
Goodnight, I am going to try and get some sleep now.
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