The San Juan sinks
Model of a 16th century merchant ship, Fred Werthman. Canadian Museum of History, IMG2008-0297-0053-Dm
1565
The San Juan de Pasajes, a Basque whaling ship, sank in a storm off the Strait of Belle Isle in 1565. It was a part of the highly developed whaling industry established in Labrador between 1543 and the 1580s by Spanish Basques. More than 20 stations were set up along the strait to process the whales for their blubber, which was rendered into oil on site and then shipped in casks to Europe. The San Juan and its cargo of 1,000 barrels of whale oil was discovered off Red Bay, and the site was explored between 1978 and 1985. It now forms part of the exhibits at the Red Bay National Historic Site (declared a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2013).
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