Red Bay, estab­lished by Basque mariners in the 16th cen­tu­ry at the north-east­­ern tip of Cana­da on the shore of the Strait of Belle Isle is an archae­o­log­i­cal site that pro­vides the ear­li­est, most com­plete and best pre­served tes­ti­mo­ny of the Euro­pean whal­ing tra­di­tion. Gran Baya, as it was called by those who found­ed the sta­tion in 1530s, was used as a base for coastal hunt­ing, butcher­ing, ren­der­ing of whale fat by head­ing to pro­duce oil and stor­age. It became a major source of whale oil which was shipped to Europe where it was used for light­ing. The site, which was used in the sum­mer months, includes remains of ren­der­ing ovens, cooper­ages, wharves, tem­po­rary liv­ing quar­ters and a ceme­tery, togeth­er with under­wa­ter remains of ves­sels and whale bone deposits. The sta­tion was used for some 70 years, before the local whale pop­u­la­tion was deplet­ed.