I think today was a day of contradictions- of my thoughts in what I saw. After having a delicious breakfast and coffee, I first went to the
Phallological Museum, apparently the only one of its kind in the world. What does it mean? A collection and showcase of penises from the animal kingdom. This guy has been collection these specimens since the 70s and now has over 300 in this tiny little house. Not only does he have actual penises in jars and on wooden plaques, but any kind of fallacy that exists and pertains to a penis, whether folk lore, international symbols, architecture, etc., he has got them. It was so fascinating and interesting, but also kind of disgusting haha. I spoke with him for a little bit and we had a good laugh- he has a great sense of humor- I mean, he has to for him to be seriously doing this. He then gave me a postcard that said only the intelligent with good sense of humor can appreciate this and according to his sociological observations (whatever that entails) it is only 6% of the people he has seen walk through there..pretty awesome!
After I went to the Whale Museum, which also was a contradictory experience for me. The first half of the exhibit is set up like a Natural Museum where they describe the ecosystem of the different types of whales, while going into great detail about each species. The diagrams were amazing and it was great to see how the exhibit was designed and curated. This part I enjoyed very much. The second part was hard to digest. I have always had some idea about whaling and its issues- I have even signed petitions from Greenpeace to try to stop it. Today was the first time when I really understood and saw the travesty of the whaling industry throughout Icelandic history. Holy crap! There were moments when my eyes practically swelled up with tears- it was kind of hard to imagine. I guess I can understand that back in the day when living conditions were extremely harsh here in Iceland, it was a source of food, but I think human kind has a difficult time understanding moderation and when to stop. There have been many periods where they would kill every whale in sight for 'food', yet the thousands of carcasses would just sit and rot on the beach. They would over do it in one region and move on to the next without learning from past mistakes, and repeat. Iceland had stopped for a little while very recently, but then started back up again. The problem now is that they are doing this with no market for whale meat. It is pointless and devastating to hear and learn about the realities of this situation. They also covered the 'stranded' whales, which turns out are mostly from anthropogenic forces. Some examples of this is sonar testing by the military, which screws up the whales' sonar as that is how they communicate and understand their surroundings. Also, the intensity of the high-frequency pitches impact them a great deal, and some stranded have been found all messed up, as if their heads exploded from the intense sounds. They have studied this in great detail and it is a certain effect. Another force is how our oceans have become dumping grounds, where millions upon trillions of tons of plastic float around. It is part of the oceanic food chain at this point and these human remains get lodged in their intestines (among all other oceanic creatures) and it acts as a poison. The whale watching industry has emerged in the last 15 years or so as a kind of 'counteraction' to this in order to raise awareness and boost more tourism. Which brings me to my third contradiction.
I have just returned from my Whale Watching trip, and that too was a contradictory experience. The particular company I went with, the one who has a deal with the bus company, has the most trips since they have promoted themselves as such. They pride themselves on "being sustainable" by increasing awareness and having a fleet of Oak boats that were restored. However, they still use oil to run their ships. There was a lot of evidence of this in the harbor, as there was a film of oil on the surface floating around their ships. The odor of it was no secret either. They provide hot chocolate and cinnamon buns. When the previous trip returned, I watched as the excess was dumped into the ocean. How can you promote eco-tourism while the practices are in fact not in the best interest of the whales and the oceanic ecosystem people become guests in as they visit to observe these fascinating creatures? Controversial, yes. My thoughts on the trip are as controversial as their practices. One side of me really enjoyed being out there, in the ocean, getting close to a Minke Whale and a big 30+ party of White Bottle-Nose Dolphins, but the other side felt like I was disturbing their home. It was a fun experience, but I am not sure it is worth their disturbance and exposure. It is hard to say or decide what is right or wrong about this right now.
Tomorrow is a big travel day for me. I move from the very north to the deep southeast to hopefully go see another fish farm, this time, a cage operation. From my understanding and research, HB Grandi farms cod, and the are still experimenting with their methods, which would be very fascinating to learn about.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETER!!!!!!
Image 1: Phallological Museum- outside, do you see the phallic symbols?
Image 2: Phallological Museum- inside, I will leave it up to you to zoom in and see it in greater detail :)
Image 3: Whale Museum- inside, upstairs- skeletons assembled from stranded whales
Image 4: Whale Watching- White Bottle-Nose Dolphins, the sky is what it looks like most of the night, this is around 11 PM
Image 5: Whale Watching- White Bottle-Nose Dolphin, this one was especially playful and acrobatic!
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