Ocean Films Húsavík 2023

Ocean Films Húsavík is scheduled to occur at the Húsavík Whale Museum during the evenings of August 18th and 19th (from 7 to 11 pm Iceland time). With limited seating, doors will open at 6:45 pm. This film festival, which had its inaugural edition in 2021, presents a collection of ocean-themed films from across the world. The films will also be accessible for online viewing from August 18th to September 1st through the following link: https://vimeo.com/oceanfilmshusavik. This event is a collaborative venture between the Húsavík Whale Museum and the marine conservation organization, Whale Wise.

White beaked dolphin joins Húsavík Whale Museum’s impressive skeleton collection

The Húsavík Whale Museum received a true gem recently when a white beaked dolphin was added to the skeleton collection. This is the 12th skeleton which will be on display inside the museum and the first which is received since the arrival of the blue whale in 2015. Also, it’s the last piece of the puzzle in the game of collecting the most regular whale species of Skjálfandi Bay. It was the museum’s whale specialist Garðar Þröstur Einarsson who picked up the white beaked dolphin from the farm Guðlaugsvík in Hrútafjörður. The bones will now be in a processing mode for about one year before they will be ready for display inside the museum. The Húsavík Whale Museum wants to thank the owners of Guðlaugsvík for the donation and the help when picking up the whale.

white beaked dolphin

The white beaked dolphin stranded in Guðlaugsvík in Hrútafjörður, North West Iceland

Construction work and other ongoing projects

The winters in the north are not known for massive tourism which gives the museum staff space for important updates on exhibitions, construction work, school collaboration etc.

In February a stairwell was built from the museum‘s reading area on the 1st floor, down to the ground floor. This is connected with a new innovation center and a Fab Lab which began operating on the ground floor recently. There will be a collaboration on various basis between the museum and the innovation center so being able to travel between each other inside the building is ideal.

A new security system was recently installed in the museum. The old one was quite outdated so hopefully the new system will ensure the museum‘s security and fire alarm.

The Húsavík Whale Museum was the host of a christmas market on three occasions on the 2021 advent. The goods for sale were mostly local design of various kind. In the days before the museum staff took down the 20th anniversary exhibitions- the story of the Húsavík Whale Museum. It had been on display since May 2019. The new exhibition which will open in the upcoming spring is about the ocean nature. The text is done by the museum but the overall design by Þórarinn Blöndal. Þórarinn has previously designed the blue whale exhibition and the whaling exhibition. A graphic footage is made by Strýtan divecenter in Hjalteyri.

In 2021 the museum received 22 thousand guests. Icelandic visitors made the top of the chart in numbers for the second year in a row. It is not expected to happen for the third time in a row though, as international travelling will probably return to more natural phase in the summer of 2023. From 2016-2019 the Whale Museum received over 30 thousand guests so employees can prepare for a busy summer, given that covid restrictions will be minimal.

End of summer

Húsavík Whale Museum’s attendance numbers from June-August 2020 were 11.500. That’s roughly 1/3 of the visitor numbers during the summer months of 2019. When the Covid 19 pandemic was at its peak in Iceland (March-May) the expectation numbers were much lower than the results. The Icelanders were almost 40% of the visitors, with Germany safely in first place of foreign countries.

The Húsavík Whale Museum’s staff would like to thank everybody who visited this summer. The winter projects are next up for the staff members, including maintenance, school collaboration etc.

The museum is open from 11-17 this week but from  September 14th the opening hours will be:

Monday-Friday: 11-17
Saturday-Sunday: 11-15

 

Announcement

Dear guests

Following an updated government plan on maximum number of people at one place and social distancing requirements the staff of the Húsavík Whale Museum wants to make a short statement:
The museum will be open for visitors but our customers are encouraged to wash and sanitize their hands before and after their visit. All contact surfaces will be sanitized daily. Markers has been put on the floor which indicate two meters distance. Our visitors will be reminded to respect the two meters rule.

Some areas of the museum where it´s not possible to maintain 2 meter distance will be closed off.
Those regulations will be in charge until 13th August at least.

 

For more information about restrictions in effect during ban on gatherings go to:

https://www.covid.is/sub-categories/what-is-ban-on-public-events

The museum opened again today

The Húsavík Whale Museum opened today, after being closed since March 22nd because of a Covid related ban on gatherings. Opening hours in May are from 12-16. The museum is closed on Sundays. There is plenty of hand sanitiser by the counter.  The 2 meter distance rule will be obeyed and please note that maximum capacity of guests is restricted to 50 people at the same time.

According to the museum’s project manager Heiðar Hrafn Halldórsson, the employees are relieved to being able to open the museum again, although they realize the visitors numbers will be low the first weeks. There were a few guests in the museum today which was a inspiring feeling compared to the lockdown weeks. The Húsavík Whale Museum should be a must-stop-place for this summer’s tourists, being built up by high quality exhibitions. The leading role so to speak is without a doubt the blue whale skeleton. The giant skeleton is one of only two on display in Europe.

 

 

Whale museum staff in a successful educational tour to ANHM, NYC

The Húsavík Whale Museum‘s employees went abroad in late February with their spouses, in a highly anticipated trip to New York City. The purpose of the trip was to visit the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) with the goal to observe realistic ways of enhancing interactive- and digital experiences in the Whale Museum. The whale museum‘s staff got a chance to meet up with Jennifer Chow, the director of sales and strategy in the AMNH as well as Raphael Pelegrino, the digital product manager in the AMNH. The visit included a detailed tour of the ever so extraordinary museum. The rest of the weekend was spent in some of the endless activites of the big apple in a weather conditions that were ideal for Icelanders, cleas skies and sunshine with the temperature being natural for the current season.

The Húsavík Whale Museum‘s staff would like to thank their friends in the American Museum of Natural History for the warm welcome and are looking forward to a possible collaboration in the future.

The Whale Museum staff meets up with Jennifer Chow, the director of sales and strategy in the ANHM
The group who travelled from Húsavík, Iceland to New York City

A recap from the Whale Museum’s history: 1998

 On June 17th 1998 the museum moved in a 200 m2 area in a old baiting shed by the harbor called „Verbúðir“. In the next years the museum gained more popularity as it dwelled in a good relationship with the neighbours who were mostly fish baiting workers.

The Whale Museum’s home from 1998-2002 was on the upper floor of “Verbúðir”, old baiting sheds which were still serving its original purpose on the lower floor.
Þorvaldur Björnsson from the Icelandic Institute of Natural History making the bones ready for the exhibitions.
The number of skeletons increased bit by bit over the years. The Killer Whale was added in 2001.
Ásbjörn Björgvinsson, the Whale Museum’s managing director from 1997-2008 on the grand opening of the museum’s new home in 1998.

A recap from the Whale Museum’s history: 1997

The predecessor of the Húsavík Whale Museum was a small exhibition in Hotel Husavik that opened in 1997. At the time whale watching was beginning its third season in Húsavík‘s Skjálfandi bay and the growing popularity gave the Húsavík Hotel‘s manager Páll Þór Jónsson the idea to open an exhibition dedicated solely to whales. He contacted Ásbjörn Björgvinsson and convinced him to move to Húsavík, create the exhibition and to be the official caretaker.

An article from “Morgunblaðið” about the brand new exhibition at Hotel Húsavik in 1997.

Ásbjörn went to London to meet Natural history museum‘s curator Richard Sabin. The main purpose was to learn whalebone cleaning as the London‘s Natural History Museum is the biggest skeleton museum in the world. Richard Sabin has been in some connection with Húsavík whale museum ever since. He for an example directed operations when whalebones were dug out in Keflavík á Ströndum in 2001 which you can read more about in the museum‘s biology room. Most recently Mr. Sabin was one of the headliners at the Whale Museum’s annual Whale Congress in 2019.

Richard Sabin and Ásbjörn Björgvinsson in a good mood, in the dugout of whalebones at Keflavík á Ströndum in 2001.

A recap from the whale museum’s history: 1992-1995

The Húsavík Whale Museum opened an anniversary exhibition in May 2019 to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

In the next weeks, some parts of the museum’s story will be reveiled here on the museum blog. We begin our journey in 1992 because as in all good stories there is always a preface behind it.

The origin of the Húsavík whale museum can be traced to whale watching tours that were operated in Höfn from 1992-1994 on the initiative of Discover the World. In the first trip were a british guide Mark Carwardine and Ásbjörn Björgvinsson which would later establish the Húsavík whale museum. The tours took about 8 hours. In 1994 scheduled whale watching tours in Húsavík were operated for the first time by the company Sjóferðir Arnars. In the following year a few groups arrived to Húsavik for whale watching, f.e. from Discover the World. Whale sightings had decreased in Höfn at the time but Húsavík which was known as an old minke whaling area had also its advantages for a whole lot shorter distances than the tours in Höfn‘s area. In 1995 a whale watching course was held in Keflavík where foreign speakers gave an inside knowledge about whale watching as a phenomenon. One of the speakers was Erich Hoyt. By the summer of 1995 two whale watching companies, North Sailing and Sjóferðir Arnars were opertaring from Húsavík harbor on a daily basis.

Mark Carwardine with the Húsavík Whale Museum’s former project manager Huld Hafliðadóttir.
Erich Hoyt has been connected with the icelandic whale watching industry since its establishment. His latest visit to Iceland in 2019 included a talk at the Whale Museum’s Whale Congress.
A humpback whale takes a dive in the early years of icelandic whale watching.