Basque Whalers and Cod Fishers

I have to say I love sea days....it’s a day to sleep in, get caught up on watching a movie, peeking into the shops to see what new item they have just put out or put on sale, get into that paperback book I packed or visit with friends and enjoy a game of cards or any game that folks happen to have brought onboard.  The weather is around 70 degrees with a few clouds in the sky.  We search for whales, seals and birds.  Dan has spotted what we think are Minky whales and some gulls.  We are starting to push our clocks forward now losing an hour of sleep.  

We have two presenters onboard so far; Dr Tommie Sue ( an older lady) and Dr Craig Cormick.  Our favorite has been Dr Craig Cormick.  His lectures are humorous, well done and present information in an interesting format with lots of great visuals.  Usually on sea days we will have a morning and afternoon speaker.  Sometimes we have BBC movies for the evenings entertainment which has been on Planet Earth.  There is a screening room on board or a small movie theater.  Whatever shows during the day will then be on your tv the day after so you can enjoy it in your stateroom.  Everyday we have “happy hour” which is now buy one at the regular price and get the second one for $2.  Seems they are always making more profit from us one way or another.  Happy hour is a good time to meet up with friends and acquaintances to find out what they have seen or done.  We are making friends with the staff that wait on us in the Lido for dinner.  Typically we don’t have breakfast and have a light lunch or none at all.  If we are on an excursion we just take a granola or protein bar.  There is never a dull moment for us.  

Dan has been enjoying pickleball sometimes twice a day if there is no wind.  It’s noticeably getting cooler and we are beginning to turn down the AC in our room looking more for a warmer room rather than cooler.  We have so enjoyed the balcony and looking for a spouting whale or low flying gull that Dan can identify.  So far he has seen the Black backed and Herring Gull.  Along with that he has identified the Northern Fulmar.  They are an interesting short bodied and short necked water bird.  They spend most of their life at sea only coming to land to lay eggs.  They don’t mate till somewhere between 8-10 years of age and have been known to live over 50 years!  He says they have the ability to sleep on half of their brain keeping the other side awake and flying!

Anyway the topics today were on the Basque, their way of life and the cod fishers.  Whaling was big business and took out much of the population of these beautiful giant animals.  The old photos show the massacre of the whales in great detail.  The life in these northern regions was extreme and how folks survived the harsh and bitter winters is amazing.  

Tomorrow we dock at Sydney, Nova Scotia where our excursion was once again arranged by Charlene.  We will be up early to meet the tour group by 8:15.  No photos today folks!