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The car ferry from St Barbe in Newfoundland across the Strait of Belle Isle to Blanc-Sablon makes it possible to explore the coastal settlements along an 81-kilometre road (Route 510) to Red Bay, then return to Newfoundland on the second boat of the day - a possibility that more tourists exploit every year. The trip over is an experience in itself, with the vessel dwarfed by icebergs floating down the strait from Greenland, and minke and humpback whales a constant sight. This coast has been inhabited for over nine thousand years, first by caribou-hunters and then by Basque whalers, but permanent settlements did not evolve until the turn of the eighteenth century, when fishermen from Newfoundland began summer migrations to these well-stocked waters. Those who chose to live here all year were known in Newfoundland as "livyers" and led terribly harsh lives under the control of the English merchants' corrupt truck system and the supplies of alcohol that kept them in a constant state of debt. Their standard of living was greatly improved by Wilfred Grenfell, the superintendent of the Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen from 1892, who established hospitals, orphanages and nursing stations all along the coast, and succeeded in bringing the truck system to an end . The livyers, incidentally, were the first to train Labrador retrievers to catch any fish that fell off the hook.
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