Whale Factory - Horta, Portugal
N 38° 31.392 W 028° 37.498
26S E 358347 N 4265119
This marker provides information about the former whale factory in the town of Horta on Faial Island in the Archipelago of the Azores, Portugal.
Waymark Code: WMBQT2
Location: Arquipélago dos Açores, Portugal
Date Posted: 06/14/2011
Views: 14
The English portion of the historical marker reads: "Industrial building built between 1940-42, it is composed by many structures, whale slope and quartering whale yard situated between the slope and the buildings. Stands out the kittles bodies, the autoclaves and the structure composed by drier, and mill. The last two buildings are parallel between each other. Near the kettles it is a big chimney, composed by a prismatic octagonal base, an ideal frustum section and a conic structure, where a frustum abbreviation of the factory's name is written (SIMMAL-Sociedade de Industria Maritima Acoreana, Ld.)."
The old whale factory, located in the Porto Pim area of Horta, is now used as the Whale Museum (Fabrica da Baleia Centro do Mar Museu). The museum tells the story of local whalers and their hunting expeditions. The original factory equipment, which has been renovated, is on display at the museum.
The whale processing factory began operation in 1943, fully two [years before] World War II. Its owner was SIMAL - Azorean Maritime Industrial Society Limited, incorporated in 1939. The company had as its objective the exploration industry to take full advantage of cetaceans and trade their products. Factory SIMAL was a modern structure for its time with its automated machinery, processing, during the 30 years of work, about 1940 whales and 44,000 cans of whale oil. In 1974, following the worldwide decline of the whaling industry, the factory closed its doors. In 1980 it was acquired by the Government of Azores in 1984 and was classified as a Public Interest. In 2000 it was renovated and is now used as a museum.
Related Website: [Web Link]
Subject: Civil
Type: Stands alone
Languages Available:
Portuguese
English
French
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Visit Instructions:
[PT]
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[ENG]
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