Vigia da Baleia

The vigias are small constructions, usually round, painted white and with a low horizontal opening for the watching of cetaceans. The whaling in Azores has been a successful industry, partly thanks to these vigias, from where the cetaceans were observed - with the use of binoculars - and the whalers were warned of their location. It dates from the 20th century, but its genesis dates back to the population of the São Jorge island and these locations were also used for the lookout of potential attacks from pirates or privateers.

Vigia da Baleia was built by the same company which erected the Lighthouse of Rosais around 1957/1958, which belonged to the Armações Baleeiras of São Roque do Pico, being the last operational vigia of the triangle and used until the 80’s. The Parish Council proceeded to the requalification of the Vigia da Baleia and correspondent access path, a work co-participated by the PRORURAL programme, which began in 2014 and ended in 2015.