The Icelandic Seal Centre in Hvammstangi town is a research centre and a museum with information about seals. You can learn about seal colonies and the history of seal hunting. You’ll discover interesting facts learn about their seals’ lives and habits. Also, you can learn how seals are an important part of Icelandic culture, tradition, and folklore.
It’s great to start a seal watching journey around Vatnsnes peninsula by going first to the Icelandic Seal Center in Hvammstangi to learn more about these marine mammals. Then you can head out into nature at the nearby llugastaðir and Ósar areas close to Hvítserkur cliff to observe seals.
In the centre you will learn about the different seal species found along the shores of Iceland. You can find instructions on how to distinguish seal species apart from one another when you are out on your own or on a guided seal watching tour. When you view seals in the wild, it is good for the seals that you keep back a distance of 100 metres (328 feet) and use binoculars to enhance your experience.
You will also find information on the other wildlife of the area. It is abundant and includes Arctic foxes, eider ducks, puffins, whales as well as other abundant sea and inland bird life. “Walruses in Iceland” is a recent exhibition at the Icelandic Seal Center. Dozens of walruses have been seen off the coast of the country in recent decades; these are wanderers always attract a lot of attention. Recent research by scientists shows, however, that a special and independent Icelandic walrus population once lived in Iceland for millennia, but tragically became extinct in the first centuries after settlement.
You can watch scientists at work in the seal centre’s lab and learn about their reaseach. You can even help scientists by collecting data on your travels around the area! Finally, in the “Seal Cinema” you can watch a documentary about the seals found in Iceland.
