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Published: January 12th 2015
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Mexico to Amsterdam
Flight from the Mexico International Airport to the Amsterdam International Airport. Our first flight out was from Mexico City to Amsterdam. The next flight went from Amsterdam to Oslo, Norway. Finally, the last flight was from Oslo to Tromso, Norway. After a long 24 hour trip from Mexico, we landed in our next destination, Norway. The 24 hour flight gave us time to rest so when we land in Tromso we can go straight to the port town
Tromsø where a local fisherman agreed to take us on his boat and show us how they hunt whale. One of our favorite books was Moby Dick. We thought this should not be different, so we tried it. We did some research on the history of whaling in Norway. The
cultural hearth of the Vikings is Norway. We learned that Vikings from Norway hunted small pilot whales by throwing spears on ropes at the whales. The method wasn’t efficient and the spear would always slip out from the whale. Other traditional methods included spear-drift whaling. Spear-drift whaling was practiced in the North Atlantic as early as the 12th century. In open boats, hunters would strike a whale and wait for it to die, using a
Amsterdam to Oslo
Flight from Amsterdam International Airport to Oslo International Airport. marked spear, with the intent of later locating the beached carcass to claim a rightful share. In most parts of the world it is illegal to hunt and kill whales but Norway registered an objection to the International Whaling Commission moratorium and because of that it is legal in Norway to hunt whales.
Environmental determinism plays a role on whaling culture because whale populations are low due to over hunting. So now they must set quotas, a number of whales they may hunt per year to maintain a healthy whale population. Only a certain species of whale is legal to hunt, the Minke whales. Catches have fluctuated between 487 animals in 2000 to 592 in 2007. For the year 2011, the quota was set at 1286
Minke whales. The catch is made solely from the Northeast Atlantic minke whale population, which is estimated at 102,000.
New techniques and technologies, developed in the mid 19th century, revolutionized the whaling industry and Norway's prominence as a whaling nation.
Svend Foyn was the father of modern whaling. His own harpoon design proved to be much more effective than any
Oslo to Tromso
Oslo International Airport to the Tromso International other design at the time. It was a harpoon with a small hook that would allow it to stay in the whale. The harpoon was placed into a launcher that contained gunpowder which made is easier to hit the whale. Modern harpoons are huge and are attached to the boat.
When we landed in Tromso the first thing we noticed was the huge church. The Arctic Cathedral,
the building looks like a small mountain. The beautiful architecture stood out among the old traditional houses made from wood. By observing the
cultural landscape we learned that most of the people of this town practice christianity. When we got off the plane we went west to the ports where we met up with Bob, the fishermen who agreed to takes us whaling. We took a short taxi ride to the coast where all the ports were located. We found Bob and he showed us his ship. We went out into the Atlantic in search of Minke whales. It was very cold, the water and air. We kept our
eyes glued onto the surface of the water in hopes of seeing a fin stick out the water. Bob said that we always should avoid small whales and species other than Minke. We finally spot a big whale, Bob tells me to get on one of the spear cannons and Miguel on the other and who ever hit it first would win, the loser would have to be the first one to taste the whale. I shot at it and first try hit it. Then we waited a little for it to stop fighting, and reeled it in onto the boat. The whale was taken to the port town where butchers cut and cleaned it. After waiting at a cafe for a few hours, the whale we caught was finally cooked and ready to eat. It tasted great. It tasted like the McDonald's Fish-filet, minus the breading. I took this moment to ask Bob about Norway. I asked him about issues we have back home in Chicago: What is poverty like? what is crime rate like? How does it feel living in one of the most economically safe nations in the world? He just simply told me that poverty and
crime were not very common here. You do not see it as much as you would in America. He talks about how Norway has many valuable resources including oil. Miguel and I found it shocking and even wanted to move here. All the eating and talking made the time go by quickly. We then have to head back to our hotel to wash off the smell of sea and whale. We get ready for our 8:30am flight to N'Djamena, Chad.
COSTS:
Flight: $6,318
Hotel: $168
Total Cost: $6,486
Bilbiography:
"Norway." Central Intelligence Agency. Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 12 Jan. 2015..
This was a helpful sight in figuring out the basics that we would need for the journey. We would need to know if we were going into a poor country with high crime rates or more developed countries where there is less to worry about. Also, knowing what language they speak also helps in the process.
"Which Countries Are Still Whaling?" Which Countries Are Still Whaling? Web. 12
Jan. 2015..
We knew that whaling was popular in Norway. What we did not know, was the significance of it. We did not know if whaling was a bad idea or a good idea. At first glance, it appears bad. This source helped us see what impact does whaling make on Norway.
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