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 The old one was quite outdated so hopefully the new system will ensure the museum‘s security and fire alarm.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