Whales have been a valuable game since Iceland was colonized. At first, however, whaling by Icelanders was more opportunistic than commercial. Mainly Icelanders used whalers and hunted whales on a small scale until the 20th century. For the longest time, it was foreign nations who hunted whales off the coast of Iceland, first the Basques and the Dutch in the 17th century and then the Norwegians 200 years later. However, Icelanders did not start commercial whaling until after the First World War.
The exhibition traces the history of whaling in Iceland up to the present day, but in the last 20 years there has been a turnaround in whaling in Iceland, where whale watching grows and thrives in harmony with nature and society, while large whale hunting is on the decline.
