Interview with PhD fellow Sadie Hale in São Miguel, Azores | TERRA AZUL™
Channel: Azores Whale Watching TERRA AZUL™
Date: 2023-06-21

PhD research fellow Sadie Hale is interested in how culture mediates encounters with whales, and expectations of them, in different social contexts. 

As part of the SEATIMES project at the University of Bergen Department of Social Anthropology, her research focuses on human-whale relations and Anthropocene temporalities in São Miguel (Azores) Portugal and Andøya (Norway).

Sadie conducted three months of initial fieldwork alongside TERRA AZUL in spring 2023. She used a method called participant observation to see how day-to-day experiences with whales are conducted in a tourist setting. Additionally, she searched for traces of the island's whaling history to explore how impressions of whales have changed over time, including vigias and projects to restore old whaling boats. The processes by which whales have been transformed from being a 'natural resource' to a 'natural wonder' are part of her research.

TERRA AZUL is looking forward to welcoming Sadie back later in 2023 to continue her work!


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