Author: Páll Línberg Sigurðsson

The annual Great Seal Count will be held on july 19th 2015 for the 9th time. 

During the Great Seal Count the coastline of Vatnsnes and Heggstaðarnes in Húnaþing vestra is divided between staff of the Seal center and volunteers and together the group counts seals in the area. The coastline is divided into smaller areas (2-7km), so everyone can find a suitable distance. Afterwards you get a coffee and a cake at the Seal Center.

 It is a great experience! Please register by e-mailing us: info@selasetur.is  or dial  +354-451-2345.

The Great Seal Count is not suitable for children younger than 5 and kids between 5 and 15 years may only take part in the company of adults.

Dr Mandy Paterson, Chief Scientist for the Royal Society for the Prevention Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) of Queensland, Australia, visited the Seal Center this week. While here, she met with our researchers, Sandra Granquist and Leah Burns, to compare issues relevant to the welfare of wildlife in Iceland and Australia.

Dr. Leah Burns, Dr. Mandy Paterson and Sandra Granquist

The Seal Center was recently awarded its second TripAdvisor award in a short time. This time around the award was the Certificate of Excellence 2015. The award is given to the Seal Center based on number of good reviews on TripAdvisor. 

This award is very important to the Seal Center. Tourists use TripAdvisor as a resource for finding interesting places to visit on their travels so it is very important that the reviews are good. In the past few months the Seal Center has placed an emphasis on giving out good information to our gests as well as systematically asking for reviews on TripAdvisor. The result is a big increase in good reviews and this important award. 

 

The Seal Center was recentley awarded two grants.

The first one is for the operation of the exhibition at the Seal Center in 2015. Total amount 2.3 million IKR.

The second one is a project grant for the project of establishing a travel agency at the Seal Center. The main goal of the agency will be to market and sell the services of companies in the tourism industry in the area, both to individuals and other travel agencies. Total amount of the grant is 3.6 million IKR.

The Seal Center thanks the fund Uppbyggingarsjóður Sóknaráætlunar Norðurlands vestra for this important support.

 

The North West Birding Trail is now available in a map. The trail guides you through some of the richest birding areas in the Nort West of Iceland. It highlights birding locations and areas which are accessible for most bird enthusiasts travelling on their own. The sites reccommended in this first version of the map are 17, ranging from Borðeyri in the west to Þórðarhöfði in the east.

The project is a cooperation between tourism associations in the area as well as Hólar university and the Icelandic Seal Center. The Seal Center was responsible for project management. The project was funded by Vaxtarsamningur Norðurlands Vestra and done with support from the North East Birding Trail.

The map was designed by Blokkin in Húsavík and printed at Nýprent in Sauðárkrókur.