Petit Nevis whaling station is a cultural monument of past years (12 photos)

This old whaling port is a remnant of an ancient culture for which whaling is still legal.





The people of Bequia are one of only three associations in the world that are allowed to hunt whales by the International Whaling Commission (IWC). Like the Inuit, whaling on Bequia is an integral part of their culture and survival, as the island lacks other natural resources to sustain life.



However, such permission comes with a number of strict conditions: the trade must remain traditional and not imply commercial gain. The use of motorboats for hunting is prohibited - this, incidentally, is a boon for local tourism, since the long, graceful sailing vessels used for catching whales have become one of Bequia's attractions.

In addition, only hand harpoons are allowed, the use of firearms is prohibited. Finally, products from the hunted whales (meat, fat, bones, etc.) cannot be exported, and the catch limit is only four whales per year.





The captured animal is hauled ashore to be butchered. Because this process requires a controlled environment, it is not carried out on the island itself. Since the early days of whaling on Bequia (which began shortly after the abolition of slavery), a whale processing station was located on the nearby small island of Petit Nevis.

This station operated for almost 150 years. However, a few years ago, the owners of Petit Nevis, a prominent family with historical ties to the whaling industry, decided to withdraw from the whale killing and demanded that the facility be moved. Now a new station has been built on the tiny island of Samplers Cay, located closer to the coast of Bequia (it is easily visible from the island, for example, from the village of La Pompe). Despite its abandonment, the old site still has buildings, furnaces for heating copper boilers, and a ramp along which whales were dragged ashore.



Thanks to strict but balanced restrictions, whaling on Bequia remains a tradition of ancestors and does not turn into an industrial activity. In fact, even this limited trade is gradually declining and disappearing, especially with the development of regular trade links with neighboring islands.