Southwest Greenland and Bay of Biscay appears in the account chiefly through the Bay of Biscay, whose role has shifted from a whaling ground to a place where large whales are again being observed. The evidence connects this regional history to the long exploitation of right whales, the movement of a stranded fin whale, and signs of recovery along older whale routes.

A historic whaling ground

The Bay of Biscay is identified as the place where Basques first hunted right whales. The account links that history to the species’ French name, baleine de Biscaye, treating the name as a lasting reminder of the whale’s association with the bay. Right whales were especially vulnerable to hunting: they carried abundant blubber, tended to remain near shore, and floated after being killed. Their baleen could also be made into products such as umbrella ribs, corset stays, and brush bristles, giving the animal value beyond its oil.

A whale carried from the bay

The Bay of Biscay also appears in the account of a fin whale that stranded on the Isle of Wight after drifting from the bay. Its carcass had to be removed in pieces and required nine truckloads to transport to a local landfill. The episode shows how a whale moving beyond its usual setting could become a costly public problem after death, rather than a prize claimed for its commercial value.

Renewed sightings and vulnerable recovery

Researchers report seeing fin whales in greater numbers in the Bay of Biscay and off southern Ireland. The account places these sightings within a broader recovery of large whales along routes that had once exposed them to intensive hunting. Under the modern moratorium, whales are reclaiming those routes, but increased numbers do not remove the risks created by renewed hunting or other human pressures. The bay therefore carries both histories at once: a record of exploitation and evidence that some whales are again passing through their former range.