Looking through my notes on the Basque whaling industry, I see they began  
hunting whales in the 11th to 12th century in their own Bay of Biscayne. Right  
whales were their targets. When they depleted whale populations, they expanded 
 their searches for better grounds. One source showed town seals from A.D. 
1351  with whale boats and harpooners. They apparently reached Canada around 
1540 in  search of cod fish and set up organized whaling stations by 1550. Basque 
 archives reveal a navigator named Martin de Hoyarsabal, who mapped Canadian  
waters. Of particular interest for George is the fact they also shipped on  
with Dutch and British whalers in the 17th and 18th centuries, which might  
explain the whaling towns of New England. The thing is, I do not think the  
Canadian scholars bothered themselves with the question of whether Basque  
fishermen and whalers explored or hunted as far south as New England. The answer  
might lie in the Basque archives.
 
Ron May
Legacy 106, Inc.