Soon, factories processing whale oil, meat and bones sprung up on the islands.
After crude oil was discovered in 1859, the demand for whale oil decreased dramatically in the following decades.
In 1990, French national Serge Viallele set up the first whale watching company in the archipelago, on Pico island.
The number of whale watching boats is strictly limited by a license system, which issues a maximum number per island – or per zone for the smaller islands.
For now, whale watching remains a major draw for visitors to the islands.
Persons:
”, Rui de Souza Martins, Azorean, they’d, De Agostini, –, – didn’t, José Carlos Garcia, São Miguel, Pedro Madruga, wasn’t, Francois Gohier, Serge Viallele, “ Viallele, Miguel Cravinho, Francisco Garcia, ” de Souza Martins, you’ll, Martin Zwick, Jean, Michel Cousteau, Luís Silva, Garcia, “
Organizations:
CNN, University of, Whaling, Whalers, Netflix, International Whaling Commission, IWC, Azul, World Cetacean Alliance, Centre for Research
Locations:
Azores, Lisbon, Azoreans, Portugal, United States, Nantucket and New Bedford , Massachusetts, Massachusetts, Pico, Francois, Terra Azul, Miguel, Europe