Alanya - Harpoon Fishing in the Harbour in front of the Red Tower

Saturday, 21 December 2013 00:00
Written by Portal Editor

Alanya Harpoon Fishing - It was still quite early on Sunday morning when we set off on the short drive to Alanya Castle Hill to take some photos.

We were lucky enough to spot two cruise ships in the distance, heading towards the port of Alanya. So, we drove part of the way up to the castle hill, parked our car in front of the ancient city gate, and then took some pictures of the approaching ships.

Once we arrived at the castle wall above the Red Tower, we were quite surprised by the huge number of tour buses already waiting at the port for the disembarking cruise passengers, ready to take them to Pamukkale or wherever else they might be going.

We counted (without guarantee) 52 tour buses, which, assuming only 40 passengers each, could easily accommodate more than 2,000 guests.

The sheer logistical effort required to park and coordinate the departure of these many busses was fascinating.

Cruise ships arrive in Alanya.

The docking manoeuvre was also quite exciting, with the cruise ship "Norwegian Jade" having the advantage of a retractable manoeuvring bridge, allowing it to be steered precisely alongside the quay.

Everything proceeded smoothly and professionally, even with the smaller ship "Thomson Celebration." Still focused on the ships, we suddenly noticed a diver entering the water at the foot of the Red Tower, a harpoon in hand. A short while later, he was already moving towards the cliffs, the harpoon always ready to fire.

Several times we had spoken with the owner of a restaurant on the road to Gazipasa while eating fish. He also told us that he catches his fish with a harpoon. This gave us even more reason to delve into the subject in more detail.

Harpoon fishermen at the castle hill

From the history of human development, with its corresponding archaeological finds, we know that the oldest harpoons were already in use around 90,000 years ago on the Semliki River in the African Rift Valley.

The prehistoric people of the Katanda region in present-day Zaire were able to file bones in such a way as to create barbs, so that once harpooned, fish could not escape.

Until now, scientists believed that only the Cro-Magnon people possessed the skills to implement such sophisticated carving techniques.

However, further discoveries likely lie buried deep underground.

It was only around 15,000 years ago, during the Late Paleolithic period, that harpooning techniques were developed in Europe.

These techniques allowed hunters to reuse their equipment multiple times, thanks to a three-part system consisting of a detachable barbed point, a spear shaft, and a spear thrower.

The terminology becomes clearer here, as harpoons are generally understood to be devices where the barbed head detaches from a shaft after being released or thrown, and the barbs remain embedded in the prey.

This point remains connected to the hunter by a cord during use, preventing the prey from escaping.

Unfortunately, we were unable to ascertain whether our harpooner had been successful on his hunt on Sunday morning, as he had swum too far around the rocky promontory and disappeared from our sight.