As reported recently, the whale watching season has started well in Húsavík. Trips started with Norðursigling and Gentle Giants in March and attendance has been excellent. The same story can be told about the Whale Museum, which is now open daily and has been steadily increasing in number of visitors.
The whale museum has now received reinforcements; Egill P. Egilsson, media specialist has been hired for various temporary special projects and will be available to the museum staff for the next few weeks. The spring work is in full swing, as there are many angles to consider before the big season.
The whale museum at a turning point
This summer marks 20 years since the Whale Center in Húsavik was officially opened, which later became the Whale Museum we know today. For that reason, there will be a lot of glory. There is a special anniversary-history exhibition where the museum's history is told in words, objects and pictures. Preparations have also begun for the official birthday celebration to mark the turning point. The final date for the festival has not been set, but it can be assumed that it will be held around the end of June-July.
Huld Hafliðadóttir, project manager of the Whale Museum in Húsavík. Image/epe
The festival's guests of honor are several world-renowned scientists and conservationists who were all present at the opening of the Whale Center in 1998. They will also give talks at the festival. These are Ásbjörn Björgvinsson, tourism activist and frontman of the Whale Museum, Erich Hoyt, whale expert and writer, Mark Carwardine, zoologist, writer and TV presenter and Richard Sabin, head curator of mammals at the Natural History Museum in Great Britain. "This project suits me well. We envision a fun history exhibition and a varied birthday program, as we think this story and the turning point are extremely significant. It is also nice to see interest in the museum from abroad, from academics and other well-wishers. It shows us in black and white the place that the museum and the academic work have occupied throughout time here at home and internationally," says Huld Hafliðadóttir, project manager of the Whale Museum in Húsavík.
