Museu dos Baleeiros

Azorean whaling was not industrial. Men went out from shore in canoas - open double-ended boats about eleven metres long, rowed and sailed, no engine - after being alerted by spotters in cliff-top vigias, and killed sperm whales with hand-thrown harpoons and lances at close range, then towed them in for processing. It was learned from American whalers in the nineteenth century, and it continued on Pico and Faial until 1987, when Portugal banned it. The museum occupies three restored boat sheds on the Lajes waterfront and holds the boats themselves, harpoons, lances, tryworks equipment, scrimshaw carved on whale teeth, and photographs of the hunt. It does not romanticise it, and it is clear about the danger to the men as well as the animals. Whale watching now operates from the same harbour, often guided by the same families, and the vigias direct the boats.

What to look for

• The canoas - the open rowed and sailed boats used until 1987.
• The gear - hand harpoons, lances and processing equipment.
• The scrimshaw - carving on whale teeth done by the crews.
• The continuity - the same harbour and families now running whale watching.

When to go

April to October. One hour. Combines with a whale-watching trip from the same harbour. The museum closes on some days.

What to expect

The subject is the killing of whales and the displays do not soften it. The museum is small. Lajes is on the far side of Pico from the ferry at Madalena, about an hour by road. Labelling is fuller in Portuguese.

Nearby

The Pico vineyards and Gruta das Torres are north-west; Faial is across the channel.

Key facts