Winter is coming to an end, even though one spring tree will perhaps see the light of day until summer. Winters are just as important to museum work as the peak of summer, but in a completely different way. While summer is used for the majority of the year's visitor reception, winter is used for maintenance, innovation and museum education.
In February, Trésmiðjan Val ehf. built staircase leading from the 1st floor down to the ground floor. The construction is due to the arrival of the Hráðsin innovation center on the ground floor of Hafnarstvet 1, which will also be connected to Langaneshúsin, Hafnarstvet 3 with a specially designed glass house. The stairwell will allow staff in the two buildings to travel indoors throughout the entire space of the two buildings, but there will be considerable cooperation between the companies and organizations based there.
A new security and fire prevention system has been installed in the museum, but the old system was out of date. The system itself is purchased by the Security Center, but EG Jónasson ehf. took care of plumbing work.
Last Advent, the Whale Museum hosted a three-part Christmas market. The market, which was a joint project of Húsavíkurstofa and Völsung's Gymnastics Department, was held on the 1st floor of the Whale Museum. A wide variety of products were on offer, most of them designed in the nearby region. In preparation for the market, a wall was torn down and the Whale Museum's 20th anniversary exhibition was removed, but it was opened in May 2019. A new exhibition about the nature of the sea is scheduled to open in the spring. Text work is done within the museum, but design is in the hands of Þórarin Blöndal. Þórarinn is well known to the museum, as he designed the overall look of the whaling exhibit as well as the whaling exhibit at the museum. The new exhibition is also produced in collaboration with Strýtan Divecenter in Hjalteyri, who provide footage.
In 2021, 22 thousand people visited the Whale Museum. Icelanders were the most numerous visitor nation, but as far as is known, foreign trips were at a minimum in the summers of 2020 and 2021 due to Covid 19. In 2019, 31 thousand people visited the museum, so it is safe to say that the Whale Museum will be open for the coming summer, given that there will be little or no travel restrictions
