User:Myriamkains/Icelandic Seal Center in Hvammstangi

The Icelandic Seal Center is a museum, information and research center located in Hvammstangi, along the Miðfjörður River in northwest Iceland. Officially established in 2005 by local residents, the center aims to strengthen nature tourism in Húnaþing vestra. Indeed, through various research projects, education and dissemination about Icelandic seals, the center contributes to strengthening responsible and sustainable pinniped watching in the region.

The Icelandic Seal Center is a cooperative housing a number of parties internal and external to the Húnaþing vestra region, individuals, institutions and companies in the tourism industry and is not run for profit.

The center officially opened on June 26th, 2006 at 2 Brekkugata with an educational exhibition in a former retail building. Nearly three hundred guests were present at the opening, including Sturla Böðvarsson, the Minister of Transport at the time, who officially opened the center. In its first year of operation, the center had about 2,500 visitors.

In 2012, the museum moved to Strandgata 1 in the former basement of a building near the harbor according to the design of Steinþór Sigurðsson. The offices of the various research departments and the director are now located on the 2nd floor of Höfðabraut 6.

The museum, aimed at the general public and tourists off the region, deals with the biology and behavior of seals in Iceland. The research center has three departments working in collaboration with the Icelandic Institute of Marine Research, the Department of Tourism of the University of Hólar and the North-West Nature Center. It conducts research and education on seals as well as tourism related to the nature of Húnaþing vestra. Every year, seal research is carried out in Heggstaðanes, Vatnsnes and elsewhere in Iceland in close cooperation with local people and landowners. In recent years, employees and students of the Icelandic Seal Center, in collaboration with the Institute of Marine Research and the University of Hólar, have gathered important biological and behavioral information about the seals themselves and the impact of wildlife tourism on them.

The center's greatest achievement is undoubtedly the enforcement of the seal hunting ban and the inclusion of Icelandic seal organizations on the international blacklist.

Within the museum is an educational and informative exhibition about seals and their way of life in Iceland. The research facilities set up in collaboration with the Icelandic Institute of Marine Research can be admired directly from inside the museum. There is also a souvenir store and an information center for the Húnaþing vestra area, which is a great attraction for tourists. In the spring of 2021, the seal center has designed a new tourist route "The Seal Path" covering 111 km of northwest Iceland. In Selastóð, there is a circular route from Hvammstangi via Vatnsnes, to Kolugljúfur in Víðidalur and back to Hvammstangi. Tourist attractions are Hvammstangi, Hamarsrétt, Illugastaðir, Hvítserkur, Borgarvirki and Kolugljúfur.