Red Bay, Labrador, Canada

 On the Canada and Greenland cruise, after leaving Corner Brook, our next destination was Red Bay. Red Bay is a fishing village in Labrador. The town has less inhabitants than the visiting cruise passengers. 

As we approached Red Bay around 7.30 am the low fog was rolling in. It was a tender port so we anchored out in the bay. 

I took the tender over to the town, where a friendly lighthouse was there to greet us. Our ship behind Saddle Island -

I walked along to the museum, $11.25 entry which includes the boat to the nearby Saddle Island. The museum features a lot on the history of the whaling. Between 1530 and the early 17th century, this was a major Basque whaling area. The Basque whalers harvested North Atlantic and Greenland Right whales for their oil for lamps of Europe. In those days the whales were plentiful. 

The waters around here notable as one of the most precious underwater archaeological sites in the Americas. Several whaling ships, both large galleons and small chalupas, sank there, and their discovery led to the designation of Red Bay in 2013 as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Red Bay Basque Whaling Station. 

I took the boat over to Saddle Island - 

There was a boardwalk around a large part of Saddle Island, and people giving interpretation talks in places. And sites of interest were numbered, corresponding to a map we had been given.

We had been warned that midges are a problem, but it was so windy on the island there was no sign of the insects. It was rather cold however in the wind - we were there end of July. The harbour freezes in winter, so the whalers only operated in the summer months. Northern blue flag iris -

A ship wreck -

There were many noisy Herring gulls flying overhead and on the other side of the island many were sitting on the ground.

It was pretty but very cold in the wind, so I hurried around and then headed back for lunch. In the afternoon I dressed up in 4 layers, to walk around the town. 

Polar bear in the cafe -

Abandoned building -

Common monkshood -

Bog berry or Cornel -

Mountain alder -

White crowned sparrow -

I went into the whale exhibit towards the end of the day. Greenland right and North Atlantic right whales -