Red Bay

Red Bay lies on the Labrador shore of the Strait of Belle Isle, sheltered from the sea by Saddle Island. Its deep harbour and the vantage points above its shores made it well suited to watching for whales and bringing boats safely to land. Long before European whalers crossed the Atlantic, Indigenous peoples knew the coasts and waters of this northern passage.

From the 1540s to the early seventeenth century, Basque crews sailed here each year to hunt bowhead and right whales. Lookouts watched for their passage, and men set out in small boats called chalupas to harpoon them. On shore the blubber was heated to produce oil, which coopers packed into barrels for the voyage to Europe. The work demanded ships, skilled crews and elaborate shore stations. In the autumn of 1565, the Basque ship San Juan sank in the harbour during a storm, a reminder of the hazards that accompanied the profitable trade.