November 5, 2024 • 29 mins
Join us as we journey to the Reykjavik Maritime Museum, a relatively young museum founded in 2004, yet one that preserves the centuries-old lifeline of Icelandic fishing. Discover how this unique museum showcases Iceland's deep connection to the sea and the essential role of fishing in the country’s survival and prosperity.
🐟 From Cod to Commerce 💰
Explore the historical significance of cod, Iceland’s economic mainstay, and learn how the museum’s immersive exhibits depict the fascinating “from sea to plate” journey. Walking through spaces designed to mirror a fish processing plant, visitors experience the scale and importance of Iceland’s fishing industry.
🧴 Nothing Wasted: A Creative Approach to Fish Byproducts
Our guide Ingiborg introduces the “Nothing Wasted” exhibit, celebrating Iceland’s resourcefulness by repurposing fish byproducts. Discover how fish skin is used in medical plasters for burn victims, and fish collagen has found its way into everything from leather products to health supplements.
🦈 Fermented Shark & The Cod Wars ⚔️
Uncover the story behind Iceland’s infamous fermented shark, hákarl, once essential to Iceland’s diet and now a delicacy with a distinct place in Icelandic culture. Learn about the Cod Wars, a series of intense confrontations with the UK, that underscored Iceland’s fierce independence and commitment to its fishing territory.
🦺 Safety at Sea: A Matter of Life and Legacy 🌊
The museum also highlights the vital role of safety in Icelandic fishing culture, sharing stories of those who risked—and often lost—their lives at sea. From a unique exhibit on fishermen’s safety to the revolutionary strides that made Iceland's waters safer, the museum emphasizes the courage and resilience of Iceland’s seafaring communities. Whether you’re intrigued by maritime history, fascinated by Iceland’s inventive spirit, or curious about the cultural traditions shaped by the ocean, this episode offers a rich dive into Iceland’s maritime legacy.
🔗 Episode Links
Reykjavík Maritime Museum:
https://borgarsogusafn.is/en/reykjavik-maritime-museum
Bjarnarhöfn Shark Museum in Snæfellsnes:
https://www.icelandtravel.is/attractions/shark-museum/
Curator's Choice - A podcast for history nerds and museum lovers
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Ayla Sparks and this is Curator's Choice, a
podcast for history nerds andmuseum lovers.
From ancient relics to modernmarvels, each episode of this
show features a new museum and acurator's choice of some
amazing artifacts housed there.
These guardians of history willshare insights, anecdotes and
(00:21):
the often untold stories thatbreathe life into the artifacts
they protect.
Thanks for tuning in to thisMighty Oak Media production and
the often untold stories thatbreathe life into the artifacts
they protect.
Thanks for tuning in to thisMighty Oak Media production and
enjoy the show.
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of Curator's Choice.
Today on the show, we explore arelatively young museum,
established in 2004, yet onethat is deeply rooted in
(00:42):
Iceland's fishing heritage.
At the Reykjavik MaritimeMuseum, we explore Iceland's
relationship with the sea,focusing on fishing as a
lifeline for the nation, fromthe historical significance of
cod to the immersive exhibitdesigned to mimic a fish
processing plant.
Our guide, inge Björk, shareswith us their exhibit Nothing
(01:04):
Wasted, showcasing Iceland'sinventive uses for fish
byproducts, from fish leather tomedical plasters made from fish
skin.
This episode also dives intoIceland's iconic fermented shark
, the cultural legacy of the codwars and the emphasis of safety
at sea, a matter of life anddeath for Icelanders throughout
(01:27):
history.
This episode had all manner oftechnical difficulties, and I
just wanted to say an extraspecial thank you to Inge Björk
for all her patience.
So without further ado, let'sjump right in.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about the museum?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yes, so we're talking about the Reykjavik City
Maritime Museum, which is inReykjavik, which is the only
city in Iceland, actually, andit's quite a young museum
because it was only founded in2004.
And it was founded becausepeople who worked for the city
thought, since maritime historyis a huge part of our history,
(02:08):
obviously being an island andReykjavik being sort of the
biggest fishing port in thecountry, and it didn't have a
maritime museum, so some peoplewho were interested in the
history at the city sort ofadvocated for the museum to be
established.
Yes, so it was founded in 2004and opened its first exhibition
(02:34):
in 2005.
And, unlike a lot of maritimemuseums that at least I have
visited in Europe, ours isfocused on the fishing history
really, because we don't reallyhave so much maritime history in
the way that we had a lot ofships and sailing culture as
such.
So our museum focuses on howthe fishing industry is
(02:55):
basically what we are founded on.
We couldn't have survived onthis island if it wasn't for the
fish.
So in 2018, we opened up ourpermanent exhibition after
renovations, and that's our mainexhibition, obviously, and
there we tried to tell the storythrough the eyes of the fish.
In a way, it's the cod, whichis the main fish that we export
(03:19):
and that we have gained ourrevenue during the years from.
So you learn about the historyof our fishing from the cod.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I was looking as well and it looks like
roughly, at least in the pastfew years.
About 10% of Iceland's totalGDP comes from seafood.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Like the sea industry , yes, and it used to be much
more, but because of tourism hassort of taken over.
But fishing is basically whatwe is.
The only way we could gainrevenue into the country was to
sell or export fish.
So that's what we sort of buildon and that's why it's so
important and it used to be likeevery family had like a
(03:59):
fisherman in their family, butnow you know it's fewer men can
catch more fish, so it's lessand less people working actually
doing it.
So it's important for us to beable to show the younger
generation plus, obviously,people who visit us from abroad
where we came from, in a way,what we are founded on.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So when people come to the Maritime Museum, it looks
like you guys have a lot ofdifferent immersive ways and,
like you said, it's from theviewpoint of the fish.
So what was the complication intrying to create that kind of
environment?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, so we got design office from Amsterdam to
do the design exhibition andwhen they came they sort of you
know, because it's not part oftheir culture they were trying
to sort of see where they couldtake this.
And one of the things that wedid was we took the design team
to one of the biggest fishfactories in Reykjavik just for
(04:51):
a visit to see what it was allabout, and they sort of
transferred that into theexhibition.
So when you walk into theexhibition you're almost like
you're in a fish processingplant.
You're almost like you're in afish processing plant.
The floors are painted sort ofblue and very shiny, because in
the fish processing plants youhave water running on the floor
all the time to keep it clean,and also the location of the
(05:15):
museum is in an actual old fishprocessing plant just by the
harbour.
So it's kind of a really nicehistorical connection you can
make.
There.
The exhibition sort of takes you.
You start with the life of thefish, where it comes from and
the environment it lives in, andthen it takes you into.
You know how you find, withnavigation, how you find the
(05:38):
best fishing spots, becausethat's a special science, to
sort of know where the fish areand then through that, you go
through like the ways you catcha fish you know different ways
to catch a fish and we also talkabout safety at sea because
that's something that's beenreally important, like in 2008
was the first year that nobodydied at sea because that's where
(06:00):
we would lose our men, likeother countries would lose their
men in war, but we would losethem on our boats, because
everyone went fishing and whenthey were fishing you know
before, just in the small rowingboats then obviously you went
out and there's good weather andthen the bad weather hits and
you go down.
That was many persons' story.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
That was one thing that I noticed that seemed
really interesting about yourmuseum was you have an entire
exhibit on the safety, and Ihave not seen that in any other
maritime museum that I've everbeen to.
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
And it's such a big because everyone at least sort
of maybe say my, my parents ormy grandparents generation had
someone they lost at sea,because you know that people
would die.
So it's really important for usto show the emphasis we have
put on safety.
All people who work at sea goto, like it's called, the
fisherman's safety school.
(06:52):
So you do like a program for afew weeks or a few days that you
go through all the safetyprocedures that you need to know
so that if something happensyou know what to do and what
equipment to use and whatclothes to put on and such and
yeah.
So the exhibition just takesyou through sort of all the
stages of what the fish goesthrough.
So the idea is from the seed toyour plate.
(07:13):
That's basically the idea.
And so the exhibition takes youfrom where the fish starts and
at the end on your plate.
So it goes through also likehow you process it, and then at
the end of the exhibition youhave this big table where you
can make your own recipes withfish which is quite cool and
email it to you, and we alsohave a wall, which I think is
(07:36):
really interesting also.
It's called Nothing Wasted, andthen we talk about how new
initiatives of using differentthings from the fish to make
other things like people makefish leather, they use the cod
oil for supplements, and thenewest invention now that's
getting quite big and is one ofthe biggest, or at least
(07:56):
money-making biggest companiesin Iceland is called Kerasis,
and they make plasters orband-aaids or you would call it
plasters for burn victims fromthe fish skin.
So you know that's a cool thingwhere you can try to use what
was thrown away to makesomething amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, helping a lot of people.
Yeah, just for your plate.
Yes, exactly, also for yourburns.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And they do all different.
You know they do all these.
I don't know if it's popular inthe States, but here everyone
wants to do collagen, this andcollagen that you know.
And they put fish collagen insoda drinks and people drink it,
I think.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
I don't know if it's currently in the ones that I'm
drinking, but I might rethinkthat next week.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Well, you can try it when you come here.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
It's called collab and it just becomes so popular
really interesting and I know II was also reading about some
more icelandic fish cuisine andthere's fermented shark.
Is that actually?
Is that like a big popular itemor is it kind of one of those
no relics of a past time thatpeople like to come to Iceland
and try to tell you that youhave?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, it is.
I mean I didn't grow up eatingit, maybe some people did, but I
mean it's an acquired taste andit's not bad, I don't.
I mean it's like I mean itsmells really strong but it
tastes a little bit like youknow, when you have really
strong cheese it's that kind ofyou know.
So the taste is not bad butit's you can't eat it as a food.
It's because it's like like ablock of cheese is not food.
You need to take it withsomething.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
So it's more like a special occasion, one-on-one
bite, and it kind of makes sense, too, that that would be
something that you know.
Earlier in history would havebeen more popular the idea of
preserving the food that youhave.
Well, you would eat it.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, I guess you would eat it out of necessity.
Like a lot of things, it's likeit's one of those meats that
you can't just eat it fresh.
You need to have it fermentedbecause it has I don't know if
you know shark, but sharkdoesn't urinate.
In a way, it sort of goes backinto its system and it's, in a
way, poisonous.
(10:03):
So you need to let it fermentfor it to become non-poisonous.
Oh wow, and therefore it's sostrongly strong smell, because
it's the ammonia smell that yousmell.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I wanted to go a little bit more into detail
about the history of thisfermented shark, or the
Icelandic term, haukart, haukart, hauukart or something like
that.
I watched quite a few videosand, to be honest, the Icelandic
accent and language isincredible and incredibly
(10:35):
difficult, so I'm sure Ibutchered it.
However, fermented shark.
But first things first, let'stalk about the incredible
Greenland shark.
I couldn't pass on an amazingopportunity to share some
wildlife.
So Greenland sharks hold therecord for the longest lifespan
among vertebrates.
(10:56):
Studies using radiocarbondating on the eye lens proteins
have shown that these sharks canlive for over 400 years.
Some estimates suggest theycould even live longer.
So this extraordinary longevityis attributed to their
incredibly slow metabolic rate,which makes sense.
(11:18):
It's a necessary adaptation tosurvive in those freezing depths
of the North Atlantic andArctic Oceans it calls home.
So these Greenland sharks aregrowing at an estimated rate of
about one centimeter per year,so this means by the time they
reach full size, they're oftenalready centuries old.
(11:40):
Scientists also speculate thatGreenland sharks may be the
slowest swimming sharks of all,moving at an average speed of
only about 0.34 meters persecond.
But that's not all.
As well as being the oldest,slowest and the coldest,
(12:02):
greenland sharks are also oftenpartially or completely blind
due to a parasitic copepod thatattaches itself to their eyes.
Even though their sight isoften gone, they have such a
strong sense of smell they'reable to navigate the dark and
icy cold waters.
They can locate their foodsources just fine, which
(12:24):
consists mostly of fish, squidand even the occasional carrion,
like polar bears or reindeer,that have fallen into the ocean.
Now, unlike most shark species,the flesh of the Greenland
shark is toxic if consumed fresh, just like Ingeberg was saying.
(12:45):
This toxicity comes from highlevels of trimethylamine oxide.
There's a lot of pronunciationsin this episode.
I'm trying my best.
Or TMAO, and this helpsstabilize proteins and maintains
the osmotic balance in theshark's body despite this
freezing cold water.
But in people TMAO breaks downinto a compound that causes
(13:10):
severe nausea, intestinal issuesand even, in very extreme cases
, has caused neurologicaleffects.
But Icelanders, who inhabited abarren volcanic island with
limited access to fertile land,they couldn't afford to waste
any protein sources.
So to render the shark edible,early Icelanders developed a
(13:33):
unique fermentation and dryingprocess.
Traditionally, the shark meatwould be cleaned, cut into large
chunks and buried in gravellysand pits along the coast and
allowed to naturally fermentover 6 to 12 weeks.
After this stage, the sharkmeat was retrieved, cut into
smaller strips and then hung outto dry in open sheds for
(13:56):
several more months.
The process removes the toxicTMAO, but it still has that very
strong odor and taste.
So this method of makingfermented shark was a reliable
food source during those longwinters when agriculture was
impossible.
Food was scarce, but thefermentation process was not
(14:17):
exclusive to shark.
Icelanders also preserved otherfoods like lamb and fish, to
make sure that they hadnutritious diet throughout their
cold winters.
Fermented shark then became asymbol of survival in one of
Europe's most inhospitableenvironments.
So now looking at the morecultural and symbolic
significance, beyond its obviousutility, eating fermented shark
(14:42):
became a reminder of theancestors' resilience.
The food is often associatedwith the Norse god Thor and
Iceland's pagan heritage, whichwas eventually blended into
Christian customs.
Fermented shark was commonlyeaten during the annual
Thorabllot festival, which is amidwinter feast.
(15:03):
This festival was banned whenIceland was converted to
Christianity in 1000 AD, but itresurfaced in the 19th century
as Icelandic nationalism grewand Icelanders sought to reclaim
their identity and theseincredible traditions.
So during this festival, localsgather to eat traditional
Icelandic foods that havesurvived through the centuries,
(15:26):
many of which were preservedthrough fermentation, drying or
smoking.
So this fermented shark becamea centerpiece for these feasts,
along with dishes like sheep'shead dried fish and blood
pudding, head dried fish andblood pudding.
(15:48):
However, thanks to modernrefrigeration and more varied
food imports, the 20th centurysaw fermented shark lose its
role as an everyday source asIceland became more
industrialized and connected toglobal trade.
Fresh foods are now moreaccessible year-round and
fermented shark faded fromregular diets.
However, it has remained acultural practice and has the
(16:10):
reputation of being a dare foodfor tourists looking to
experience Iceland's culinaryhistory.
All right, let's get back tothe interview, when I'm
wondering, too, if the reasonwhy they even I mean obviously
you said that when you're eatingshark they kind of have to eat
what they could get back in theday.
Yeah, because it's.
(16:31):
Is it really hard to have otherkinds of livestock and things
on iceland?
Is it a harsh climate?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I know that you have a lot of tomatoes yeah, that's
because I mean that's a modernthing, because we can build
greenhouses and use the you know, know, the hot spring water to
heat them.
But obviously in the olden daysyou didn't have greenhouses.
Iceland is, I mean, it's veryfar north, our summers are very
short and we hardly had anytrees.
(16:56):
They're trying to grow them now.
So you need a lot of land tohave little livestock, if you
get what I mean, becauselivestock can be outside maybe
three months of the year.
The rest of the year has to beinside and you have to have hay
for it.
So sheep is our main livestockbecause they are very hardy and
(17:16):
they need less feeding than,obviously, beef or pigs.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
So it makes a lot of sense.
The beef or pigs, so it makes alot of sense.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sensethat when you can't have a lot
of different livestock, it'shard to have you know a lot of
crops, unless you're, in moderntimes, doing it with greenhouses
.
So it makes sense that theocean would be the main support,
the fisheries would be the mainsupport system for a lot of.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, and something that you could always go to.
I mean, you could always tryand go and catch something if
you didn't have anything.
You know what I mean, if youhave access to a boat and you
could always go and try and getsomething if you had nothing.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Well, and now might be a good transition into
talking about fighting overthose extremely important
fisheries.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
So the term cod wars is something that's used for the
conflict between Iceland andsome other European countries,
mainly the UK, over fishingterritories, because we wanted
to expand our territory butobviously the UK didn't want to
stop catching their fish hereand the conflict was from, I
(18:21):
think, about 52 to 76, somethinglike that.
So the coastal guard, icelandiccoastal guard, would go and try
to chase the UK trawlers awayand they would just, you know,
say the F word and keep onfishing Because, I don't know,
it matters but we don't have anarmy in Iceland, so we wouldn't
have any, we wouldn't haveweapons in a way.
(18:41):
So they invented this thingcalled the trawler cutter or
troll cutter.
It looks like uh, I'm justthinking how to describe it in
english it looks a little bitlike a very heavy, long hook but
with like four hooks and insidethe hooks there's like
sharpness, so that what theywould do the Icelandic coastal
(19:03):
guard would put that in the seaand sail really fast and just
cut the wires of the trawler sothey would lose all their fish.
This is really expensive, youknow.
The trawlers would have to goback to England be fixed and
they lost their trawls and thefish.
So you know.
At least it helped us to sortof win the cod war in the way
that we in the end extended ourfishing territory to 200 miles,
(19:26):
which is quite a lot for a smallcountry, our livelihood, so it
was like we don't have anythingelse.
We need this.
But I was also doing a littlebit of research again before
this podcast and apparently italso had something to do with
that Iceland threatened to leaveNATO if they wouldn't accept
the big fishing territory 200miles.
(19:47):
So I think it helped, but Ithink there must have been a
little more things to help us aswell.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
And obviously it was that important to the Icelandic
people that they were willing tothreaten coming out of NATO to
make sure that their people canactually fish.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
To go into a little bit more detail about the Cod
Wars.
So the Cod Wars were a seriesof confrontations between
Iceland and the UK, spanningfrom the 1950s to the 1970s,
over those fishing rights.
These wars weren't traditionalbattles but rather intense
diplomatic and naval standoffsthat shaped Iceland's economic
(20:25):
independence and fishing rights.
There's a series of what'sconsidered three cod wars.
So the first cod war occurredbetween 1958 and 1961.
So in 1958, icelandunilaterally extended its
fishing zone from 4 to 12nautical miles, as we've already
mentioned, aiming to protectits vital fishing industry from
(20:49):
foreign fleets.
The UK, who was heavily relianton these waters for fishing,
sent naval ships to protect itstrawlers, and the standoff saw
Icelandic Coast Guard shipscutting British nets.
But it ended in 1961 with noformal resolution, although
British ships began to limittheir activity.
(21:11):
Now the second Cod War wasbetween 72 and 73.
Iceland pushed its fishinglimits farther in 1972,
declaring a 50 nautical mileexclusion zone.
Again, the UK resisted and thetwo nations entered into another
period of tense encounters.
(21:31):
Icelandic patrol boats cutBritish fishing nets, leading to
dangerous confrontations, andthe war ended with Britain
agreeing to reduce its fishingin the expanded Icelandic zone.
So the Cod Wars saw numerousnear collisions and there were
some actual crashes betweenIcelandic Coast Guard vessels
(21:53):
and British frigates andtrawlers.
One of the most famousincidents occurred in 73, when
the Icelandic Coast Guard vesselnamed after Thor collided with
the British frigate HMS Skyla.
Despite being vastly outgunnedand outnumbered, icelandic crews
remained undeterred, engagingin a high-stakes game of chicken
(22:16):
with British ships to asserttheir territorial claims.
The bravery of Iceland's muchsmaller, under-equipped coast
guard against the British RoyalNavy created a kind of David
versus Goliath narrative thatcaptured international attention
.
Then, finally, you had theThird Cod War between 75 and 76.
(22:37):
And this is when tensionsreached a new level, when
Iceland threatened to closeNATO's air base.
This strategic base wascritical during the Cold War as
it allowed NATO to monitorSoviet submarine activity in the
North Atlantic.
Iceland's threat putsignificant pressure on the UK,
as other NATO allies,particularly the United States,
(23:01):
encouraged Britain to negotiateto preserve Iceland's support.
After years of confrontation,the conflicts finally ended in
76 with a settlement known asthe Cod Peace, in which the UK
recognized Iceland's 200-milefishing limit.
Iceland's diplomatic maneuverswere widely regarded as a
(23:23):
triumph.
Limit Iceland's diplomaticmaneuvers were widely regarded
as a triumph, as they hadeffectively used international
pressure, small-scale navaltactics and unwavering
determination to secure theireconomic interests.
By challenging a superpower onfishing rights and winning
Iceland set a precedent forcountries to assert control over
their own natural resources.
(23:44):
The Icelandic Coast Guard crewsbecame national heroes.
They were often young andlacked sophisticated military
training, yet they showedimmense courage by taking on
British warships.
In Iceland, the Cod Wars areviewed as a national achievement
, with the Coast Guard as asymbol of resilience and
(24:05):
independence.
So, speaking of how Icelandersrelate to these incredibly brave
Icelandic Coast Guardsmen,ingebjörg has one more artifact
to share with us.
So let's get back to theinterview.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I went to the exhibition to think you know
what's like, what matters, in away, to how I relate, at least.
And so there's a nice bigrowboat there on the exhibition
which was built in 1907.
And they call it in Englishbecause I was looking how it's
called the Twinkle Belt Boat,which is something that's a
(24:41):
Scandinavian way of buildingboats and is now actually a part
of UNESCO's intangible heritagelist.
It was basically the reason whyIceland was settled.
I think because the Vikingships, they were built in that
way, and because they were builtthat way, they could go far,
and because it's far to go allthe way from Norway or Shetland
(25:04):
or Ireland or wherever they camefrom, that kind of boat is the
reason for why I'm here, in away, and then during the
centuries it kept my peoplealive by taking them out to sea
and catching the fish.
So I think that's a huge,significant part of our history
is a good boat and the boat isit a rowboat?
(25:26):
It's a rowboat for four peopleto row, but they always have a
sail also.
So you just go between,depending on the weather.
So you need both to go fast outand then come back in,
depending on the wind?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Do most people in Iceland have these kinds of
small rowboats?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Not anymore, unfortunately, and for us as
museum people it's very sadbecause they're such a big part
of our history.
But once the engine boats camein, people stopped using these
and they sort of just rottedaway or were even burned in the
New Year's we have always a bigbonfire on New Year's.
They would be burned on thebonfire.
So we actually don't have thatmany original boats like that
(26:08):
left, which is quite sad, so wewant to preserve ours.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
When people do come to the museum, what kind of
events and things can theyexpect to see and do when they
come for a visit?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
So we participate in all the sort of the big events
that the city does, you know,like cultural night, and we have
children cultural days, and wehave museum night, which is very
popular, always in February,and then we have a day in early
June that's called the seaman'sday, which you, it's like you
(26:38):
celebrate the fishermen ofIceland, and that's always a big
event in the museum.
And we have, like, the safetyschool of fishermen I told you
about.
They do their practices and letyou try some of those safety
equipment for instance.
Oh, that's awesome.
So that's that's the really funevent to participate in and you
can see the display outside onthe street, all the weird
(27:01):
creatures that come out of thesea.
And then, obviously, we alwayshave great programs for the
school kids of Reykjavik andsurrounding areas, which is
always very popular.
There's one part of theexhibition it's about stories
from people out on the sea.
So you listen to stories andpeople tell you about things
that happened out on the sea.
And there's somebody talksabout how it's not very sanitary
(27:24):
to relieve yourself in theboats.
You know telling story of that.
And someone tells a story abouthow they missed their wives
because they're so long away,things like that.
So I like that when people tellpersonal stories of their life
out at sea or in other harbors.
When there was no communication, you couldn't hardly write
letters because you don't knowwhere you are, you don't know
(27:45):
when you come back.
It's just a really lovely museumby the harbor.
The location is also reallygreat.
We have the view over the oldharbor, which is really nice,
and you can see the Harpamusical at the other end, which
is sort of one of our landmarkshere in Reykjavik, and we also
have a temporary exhibition hallwhich at the moment, there's a
(28:06):
sort of a video artwork ofmicrofilming of water.
That's very nice Something thatyou wouldn't see with your bare
eyes.
But you know all the differentformations in the water that you
don't see unless it's under amicroscope.
So that's really nice.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
That's awesome.
Well, thank you so much formeeting with me and telling me
about this museum and sharingsome passion of the Icelandic
fisheries.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
It's lovely.
Thank you so much for tuning inand supporting Curator's Choice
, a Mighty Oak Media production.
If you enjoyed the show, pleaseconsider subscribing and rating
the show on Apple Podcasts,spotify, youtube or wherever you
get your podcasts.
If you love a museum and wouldlike to hear it featured in an
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(28:52):
gmailcom.
I'll do my best to reach outand see if I can get them to be
on the show.
You can also view articles,artifacts and more by following
us on Facebook and Instagram.
Thanks for listening toCurator's Choice, a podcast for
history nerds and museum lovers.
Hi, I'm Ayla Sparks and this is Curator's Choice, a
podcast for history nerds andmuseum lovers.
From ancient relics to modernmarvels, each episode of this
show features a new museum and acurator's choice of some
amazing artifacts housed there.
These guardians of history willshare insights, anecdotes and
(00:21):
the often untold stories thatbreathe life into the artifacts
they protect.
Thanks for tuning in to thisMighty Oak Media production and
the often untold stories thatbreathe life into the artifacts
they protect.
Thanks for tuning in to thisMighty Oak Media production and
enjoy the show.
Hello and welcome to anotherepisode of Curator's Choice.
Today on the show, we explore arelatively young museum,
established in 2004, yet onethat is deeply rooted in
(00:42):
Iceland's fishing heritage.
At the Reykjavik MaritimeMuseum, we explore Iceland's
relationship with the sea,focusing on fishing as a
lifeline for the nation, fromthe historical significance of
cod to the immersive exhibitdesigned to mimic a fish
processing plant.
Our guide, inge Björk, shareswith us their exhibit Nothing
(01:04):
Wasted, showcasing Iceland'sinventive uses for fish
byproducts, from fish leather tomedical plasters made from fish
skin.
This episode also dives intoIceland's iconic fermented shark
, the cultural legacy of the codwars and the emphasis of safety
at sea, a matter of life anddeath for Icelanders throughout
(01:27):
history.
This episode had all manner oftechnical difficulties, and I
just wanted to say an extraspecial thank you to Inge Björk
for all her patience.
So without further ado, let'sjump right in.
So why don't you tell us alittle bit about the museum?
Speaker 2 (01:47):
Yes, so we're talking about the Reykjavik City
Maritime Museum, which is inReykjavik, which is the only
city in Iceland, actually, andit's quite a young museum
because it was only founded in2004.
And it was founded becausepeople who worked for the city
thought, since maritime historyis a huge part of our history,
(02:08):
obviously being an island andReykjavik being sort of the
biggest fishing port in thecountry, and it didn't have a
maritime museum, so some peoplewho were interested in the
history at the city sort ofadvocated for the museum to be
established.
Yes, so it was founded in 2004and opened its first exhibition
(02:34):
in 2005.
And, unlike a lot of maritimemuseums that at least I have
visited in Europe, ours isfocused on the fishing history
really, because we don't reallyhave so much maritime history in
the way that we had a lot ofships and sailing culture as
such.
So our museum focuses on howthe fishing industry is
(02:55):
basically what we are founded on.
We couldn't have survived onthis island if it wasn't for the
fish.
So in 2018, we opened up ourpermanent exhibition after
renovations, and that's our mainexhibition, obviously, and
there we tried to tell the storythrough the eyes of the fish.
In a way, it's the cod, whichis the main fish that we export
(03:19):
and that we have gained ourrevenue during the years from.
So you learn about the historyof our fishing from the cod.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
Yeah, I was looking as well and it looks like
roughly, at least in the pastfew years.
About 10% of Iceland's totalGDP comes from seafood.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Like the sea industry , yes, and it used to be much
more, but because of tourism hassort of taken over.
But fishing is basically whatwe is.
The only way we could gainrevenue into the country was to
sell or export fish.
So that's what we sort of buildon and that's why it's so
important and it used to be likeevery family had like a
(03:59):
fisherman in their family, butnow you know it's fewer men can
catch more fish, so it's lessand less people working actually
doing it.
So it's important for us to beable to show the younger
generation plus, obviously,people who visit us from abroad
where we came from, in a way,what we are founded on.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
So when people come to the Maritime Museum, it looks
like you guys have a lot ofdifferent immersive ways and,
like you said, it's from theviewpoint of the fish.
So what was the complication intrying to create that kind of
environment?
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Well, so we got design office from Amsterdam to
do the design exhibition andwhen they came they sort of you
know, because it's not part oftheir culture they were trying
to sort of see where they couldtake this.
And one of the things that wedid was we took the design team
to one of the biggest fishfactories in Reykjavik just for
(04:51):
a visit to see what it was allabout, and they sort of
transferred that into theexhibition.
So when you walk into theexhibition you're almost like
you're in a fish processingplant.
You're almost like you're in afish processing plant.
The floors are painted sort ofblue and very shiny, because in
the fish processing plants youhave water running on the floor
all the time to keep it clean,and also the location of the
(05:15):
museum is in an actual old fishprocessing plant just by the
harbour.
So it's kind of a really nicehistorical connection you can
make.
There.
The exhibition sort of takes you.
You start with the life of thefish, where it comes from and
the environment it lives in, andthen it takes you into.
You know how you find, withnavigation, how you find the
(05:38):
best fishing spots, becausethat's a special science, to
sort of know where the fish areand then through that, you go
through like the ways you catcha fish you know different ways
to catch a fish and we also talkabout safety at sea because
that's something that's beenreally important, like in 2008
was the first year that nobodydied at sea because that's where
(06:00):
we would lose our men, likeother countries would lose their
men in war, but we would losethem on our boats, because
everyone went fishing and whenthey were fishing you know
before, just in the small rowingboats then obviously you went
out and there's good weather andthen the bad weather hits and
you go down.
That was many persons' story.
Speaker 1 (06:20):
That was one thing that I noticed that seemed
really interesting about yourmuseum was you have an entire
exhibit on the safety, and Ihave not seen that in any other
maritime museum that I've everbeen to.
Yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
And it's such a big because everyone at least sort
of maybe say my, my parents ormy grandparents generation had
someone they lost at sea,because you know that people
would die.
So it's really important for usto show the emphasis we have
put on safety.
All people who work at sea goto, like it's called, the
fisherman's safety school.
(06:52):
So you do like a program for afew weeks or a few days that you
go through all the safetyprocedures that you need to know
so that if something happensyou know what to do and what
equipment to use and whatclothes to put on and such and
yeah.
So the exhibition just takesyou through sort of all the
stages of what the fish goesthrough.
So the idea is from the seed toyour plate.
(07:13):
That's basically the idea.
And so the exhibition takes youfrom where the fish starts and
at the end on your plate.
So it goes through also likehow you process it, and then at
the end of the exhibition youhave this big table where you
can make your own recipes withfish which is quite cool and
email it to you, and we alsohave a wall, which I think is
(07:36):
really interesting also.
It's called Nothing Wasted, andthen we talk about how new
initiatives of using differentthings from the fish to make
other things like people makefish leather, they use the cod
oil for supplements, and thenewest invention now that's
getting quite big and is one ofthe biggest, or at least
(07:56):
money-making biggest companiesin Iceland is called Kerasis,
and they make plasters orband-aaids or you would call it
plasters for burn victims fromthe fish skin.
So you know that's a cool thingwhere you can try to use what
was thrown away to makesomething amazing.
Speaker 1 (08:16):
Yeah, helping a lot of people.
Yeah, just for your plate.
Yes, exactly, also for yourburns.
Speaker 2 (08:25):
And they do all different.
You know they do all these.
I don't know if it's popular inthe States, but here everyone
wants to do collagen, this andcollagen that you know.
And they put fish collagen insoda drinks and people drink it,
I think.
Speaker 1 (08:37):
I don't know if it's currently in the ones that I'm
drinking, but I might rethinkthat next week.
Speaker 2 (08:42):
Well, you can try it when you come here.
Speaker 1 (08:44):
It's called collab and it just becomes so popular
really interesting and I know II was also reading about some
more icelandic fish cuisine andthere's fermented shark.
Is that actually?
Is that like a big popular itemor is it kind of one of those
no relics of a past time thatpeople like to come to Iceland
and try to tell you that youhave?
Speaker 2 (09:11):
Yeah, it is.
I mean I didn't grow up eatingit, maybe some people did, but I
mean it's an acquired taste andit's not bad, I don't.
I mean it's like I mean itsmells really strong but it
tastes a little bit like youknow, when you have really
strong cheese it's that kind ofyou know.
So the taste is not bad butit's you can't eat it as a food.
It's because it's like like ablock of cheese is not food.
You need to take it withsomething.
Speaker 1 (09:30):
So it's more like a special occasion, one-on-one
bite, and it kind of makes sense, too, that that would be
something that you know.
Earlier in history would havebeen more popular the idea of
preserving the food that youhave.
Well, you would eat it.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, I guess you would eat it out of necessity.
Like a lot of things, it's likeit's one of those meats that
you can't just eat it fresh.
You need to have it fermentedbecause it has I don't know if
you know shark, but sharkdoesn't urinate.
In a way, it sort of goes backinto its system and it's, in a
way, poisonous.
(10:03):
So you need to let it fermentfor it to become non-poisonous.
Oh wow, and therefore it's sostrongly strong smell, because
it's the ammonia smell that yousmell.
Speaker 1 (10:14):
I wanted to go a little bit more into detail
about the history of thisfermented shark, or the
Icelandic term, haukart, haukart, hauukart or something like
that.
I watched quite a few videosand, to be honest, the Icelandic
accent and language isincredible and incredibly
(10:35):
difficult, so I'm sure Ibutchered it.
However, fermented shark.
But first things first, let'stalk about the incredible
Greenland shark.
I couldn't pass on an amazingopportunity to share some
wildlife.
So Greenland sharks hold therecord for the longest lifespan
among vertebrates.
(10:56):
Studies using radiocarbondating on the eye lens proteins
have shown that these sharks canlive for over 400 years.
Some estimates suggest theycould even live longer.
So this extraordinary longevityis attributed to their
incredibly slow metabolic rate,which makes sense.
(11:18):
It's a necessary adaptation tosurvive in those freezing depths
of the North Atlantic andArctic Oceans it calls home.
So these Greenland sharks aregrowing at an estimated rate of
about one centimeter per year,so this means by the time they
reach full size, they're oftenalready centuries old.
(11:40):
Scientists also speculate thatGreenland sharks may be the
slowest swimming sharks of all,moving at an average speed of
only about 0.34 meters persecond.
But that's not all.
As well as being the oldest,slowest and the coldest,
(12:02):
greenland sharks are also oftenpartially or completely blind
due to a parasitic copepod thatattaches itself to their eyes.
Even though their sight isoften gone, they have such a
strong sense of smell they'reable to navigate the dark and
icy cold waters.
They can locate their foodsources just fine, which
(12:24):
consists mostly of fish, squidand even the occasional carrion,
like polar bears or reindeer,that have fallen into the ocean.
Now, unlike most shark species,the flesh of the Greenland
shark is toxic if consumed fresh, just like Ingeberg was saying.
(12:45):
This toxicity comes from highlevels of trimethylamine oxide.
There's a lot of pronunciationsin this episode.
I'm trying my best.
Or TMAO, and this helpsstabilize proteins and maintains
the osmotic balance in theshark's body despite this
freezing cold water.
But in people TMAO breaks downinto a compound that causes
(13:10):
severe nausea, intestinal issuesand even, in very extreme cases
, has caused neurologicaleffects.
But Icelanders, who inhabited abarren volcanic island with
limited access to fertile land,they couldn't afford to waste
any protein sources.
So to render the shark edible,early Icelanders developed a
(13:33):
unique fermentation and dryingprocess.
Traditionally, the shark meatwould be cleaned, cut into large
chunks and buried in gravellysand pits along the coast and
allowed to naturally fermentover 6 to 12 weeks.
After this stage, the sharkmeat was retrieved, cut into
smaller strips and then hung outto dry in open sheds for
(13:56):
several more months.
The process removes the toxicTMAO, but it still has that very
strong odor and taste.
So this method of makingfermented shark was a reliable
food source during those longwinters when agriculture was
impossible.
Food was scarce, but thefermentation process was not
(14:17):
exclusive to shark.
Icelanders also preserved otherfoods like lamb and fish, to
make sure that they hadnutritious diet throughout their
cold winters.
Fermented shark then became asymbol of survival in one of
Europe's most inhospitableenvironments.
So now looking at the morecultural and symbolic
significance, beyond its obviousutility, eating fermented shark
(14:42):
became a reminder of theancestors' resilience.
The food is often associatedwith the Norse god Thor and
Iceland's pagan heritage, whichwas eventually blended into
Christian customs.
Fermented shark was commonlyeaten during the annual
Thorabllot festival, which is amidwinter feast.
(15:03):
This festival was banned whenIceland was converted to
Christianity in 1000 AD, but itresurfaced in the 19th century
as Icelandic nationalism grewand Icelanders sought to reclaim
their identity and theseincredible traditions.
So during this festival, localsgather to eat traditional
Icelandic foods that havesurvived through the centuries,
(15:26):
many of which were preservedthrough fermentation, drying or
smoking.
So this fermented shark becamea centerpiece for these feasts,
along with dishes like sheep'shead dried fish and blood
pudding, head dried fish andblood pudding.
(15:48):
However, thanks to modernrefrigeration and more varied
food imports, the 20th centurysaw fermented shark lose its
role as an everyday source asIceland became more
industrialized and connected toglobal trade.
Fresh foods are now moreaccessible year-round and
fermented shark faded fromregular diets.
However, it has remained acultural practice and has the
(16:10):
reputation of being a dare foodfor tourists looking to
experience Iceland's culinaryhistory.
All right, let's get back tothe interview, when I'm
wondering, too, if the reasonwhy they even I mean obviously
you said that when you're eatingshark they kind of have to eat
what they could get back in theday.
Yeah, because it's.
(16:31):
Is it really hard to have otherkinds of livestock and things
on iceland?
Is it a harsh climate?
Speaker 2 (16:36):
I know that you have a lot of tomatoes yeah, that's
because I mean that's a modernthing, because we can build
greenhouses and use the you know, know, the hot spring water to
heat them.
But obviously in the olden daysyou didn't have greenhouses.
Iceland is, I mean, it's veryfar north, our summers are very
short and we hardly had anytrees.
(16:56):
They're trying to grow them now.
So you need a lot of land tohave little livestock, if you
get what I mean, becauselivestock can be outside maybe
three months of the year.
The rest of the year has to beinside and you have to have hay
for it.
So sheep is our main livestockbecause they are very hardy and
(17:16):
they need less feeding than,obviously, beef or pigs.
Speaker 1 (17:20):
So it makes a lot of sense.
The beef or pigs, so it makes alot of sense.
Yeah, it makes a lot of sensethat when you can't have a lot
of different livestock, it'shard to have you know a lot of
crops, unless you're, in moderntimes, doing it with greenhouses
.
So it makes sense that theocean would be the main support,
the fisheries would be the mainsupport system for a lot of.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
Yeah, and something that you could always go to.
I mean, you could always tryand go and catch something if
you didn't have anything.
You know what I mean, if youhave access to a boat and you
could always go and try and getsomething if you had nothing.
Speaker 1 (17:49):
Well, and now might be a good transition into
talking about fighting overthose extremely important
fisheries.
Speaker 2 (17:59):
So the term cod wars is something that's used for the
conflict between Iceland andsome other European countries,
mainly the UK, over fishingterritories, because we wanted
to expand our territory butobviously the UK didn't want to
stop catching their fish hereand the conflict was from, I
(18:21):
think, about 52 to 76, somethinglike that.
So the coastal guard, icelandiccoastal guard, would go and try
to chase the UK trawlers awayand they would just, you know,
say the F word and keep onfishing Because, I don't know,
it matters but we don't have anarmy in Iceland, so we wouldn't
have any, we wouldn't haveweapons in a way.
(18:41):
So they invented this thingcalled the trawler cutter or
troll cutter.
It looks like uh, I'm justthinking how to describe it in
english it looks a little bitlike a very heavy, long hook but
with like four hooks and insidethe hooks there's like
sharpness, so that what theywould do the Icelandic coastal
(19:03):
guard would put that in the seaand sail really fast and just
cut the wires of the trawler sothey would lose all their fish.
This is really expensive, youknow.
The trawlers would have to goback to England be fixed and
they lost their trawls and thefish.
So you know.
At least it helped us to sortof win the cod war in the way
that we in the end extended ourfishing territory to 200 miles,
(19:26):
which is quite a lot for a smallcountry, our livelihood, so it
was like we don't have anythingelse.
We need this.
But I was also doing a littlebit of research again before
this podcast and apparently italso had something to do with
that Iceland threatened to leaveNATO if they wouldn't accept
the big fishing territory 200miles.
(19:47):
So I think it helped, but Ithink there must have been a
little more things to help us aswell.
Speaker 1 (19:52):
And obviously it was that important to the Icelandic
people that they were willing tothreaten coming out of NATO to
make sure that their people canactually fish.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
To go into a little bit more detail about the Cod
Wars.
So the Cod Wars were a seriesof confrontations between
Iceland and the UK, spanningfrom the 1950s to the 1970s,
over those fishing rights.
These wars weren't traditionalbattles but rather intense
diplomatic and naval standoffsthat shaped Iceland's economic
(20:25):
independence and fishing rights.
There's a series of what'sconsidered three cod wars.
So the first cod war occurredbetween 1958 and 1961.
So in 1958, icelandunilaterally extended its
fishing zone from 4 to 12nautical miles, as we've already
mentioned, aiming to protectits vital fishing industry from
(20:49):
foreign fleets.
The UK, who was heavily relianton these waters for fishing,
sent naval ships to protect itstrawlers, and the standoff saw
Icelandic Coast Guard shipscutting British nets.
But it ended in 1961 with noformal resolution, although
British ships began to limittheir activity.
(21:11):
Now the second Cod War wasbetween 72 and 73.
Iceland pushed its fishinglimits farther in 1972,
declaring a 50 nautical mileexclusion zone.
Again, the UK resisted and thetwo nations entered into another
period of tense encounters.
(21:31):
Icelandic patrol boats cutBritish fishing nets, leading to
dangerous confrontations, andthe war ended with Britain
agreeing to reduce its fishingin the expanded Icelandic zone.
So the Cod Wars saw numerousnear collisions and there were
some actual crashes betweenIcelandic Coast Guard vessels
(21:53):
and British frigates andtrawlers.
One of the most famousincidents occurred in 73, when
the Icelandic Coast Guard vesselnamed after Thor collided with
the British frigate HMS Skyla.
Despite being vastly outgunnedand outnumbered, icelandic crews
remained undeterred, engagingin a high-stakes game of chicken
(22:16):
with British ships to asserttheir territorial claims.
The bravery of Iceland's muchsmaller, under-equipped coast
guard against the British RoyalNavy created a kind of David
versus Goliath narrative thatcaptured international attention
.
Then, finally, you had theThird Cod War between 75 and 76.
(22:37):
And this is when tensionsreached a new level, when
Iceland threatened to closeNATO's air base.
This strategic base wascritical during the Cold War as
it allowed NATO to monitorSoviet submarine activity in the
North Atlantic.
Iceland's threat putsignificant pressure on the UK,
as other NATO allies,particularly the United States,
(23:01):
encouraged Britain to negotiateto preserve Iceland's support.
After years of confrontation,the conflicts finally ended in
76 with a settlement known asthe Cod Peace, in which the UK
recognized Iceland's 200-milefishing limit.
Iceland's diplomatic maneuverswere widely regarded as a
(23:23):
triumph.
Limit Iceland's diplomaticmaneuvers were widely regarded
as a triumph, as they hadeffectively used international
pressure, small-scale navaltactics and unwavering
determination to secure theireconomic interests.
By challenging a superpower onfishing rights and winning
Iceland set a precedent forcountries to assert control over
their own natural resources.
(23:44):
The Icelandic Coast Guard crewsbecame national heroes.
They were often young andlacked sophisticated military
training, yet they showedimmense courage by taking on
British warships.
In Iceland, the Cod Wars areviewed as a national achievement
, with the Coast Guard as asymbol of resilience and
(24:05):
independence.
So, speaking of how Icelandersrelate to these incredibly brave
Icelandic Coast Guardsmen,ingebjörg has one more artifact
to share with us.
So let's get back to theinterview.
Speaker 2 (24:19):
I went to the exhibition to think you know
what's like, what matters, in away, to how I relate, at least.
And so there's a nice bigrowboat there on the exhibition
which was built in 1907.
And they call it in Englishbecause I was looking how it's
called the Twinkle Belt Boat,which is something that's a
(24:41):
Scandinavian way of buildingboats and is now actually a part
of UNESCO's intangible heritagelist.
It was basically the reason whyIceland was settled.
I think because the Vikingships, they were built in that
way, and because they were builtthat way, they could go far,
and because it's far to go allthe way from Norway or Shetland
(25:04):
or Ireland or wherever they camefrom, that kind of boat is the
reason for why I'm here, in away, and then during the
centuries it kept my peoplealive by taking them out to sea
and catching the fish.
So I think that's a huge,significant part of our history
is a good boat and the boat isit a rowboat?
(25:26):
It's a rowboat for four peopleto row, but they always have a
sail also.
So you just go between,depending on the weather.
So you need both to go fast outand then come back in,
depending on the wind?
Speaker 1 (25:39):
Do most people in Iceland have these kinds of
small rowboats?
Speaker 2 (25:44):
Not anymore, unfortunately, and for us as
museum people it's very sadbecause they're such a big part
of our history.
But once the engine boats camein, people stopped using these
and they sort of just rottedaway or were even burned in the
New Year's we have always a bigbonfire on New Year's.
They would be burned on thebonfire.
So we actually don't have thatmany original boats like that
(26:08):
left, which is quite sad, so wewant to preserve ours.
Speaker 1 (26:12):
When people do come to the museum, what kind of
events and things can theyexpect to see and do when they
come for a visit?
Speaker 2 (26:17):
So we participate in all the sort of the big events
that the city does, you know,like cultural night, and we have
children cultural days, and wehave museum night, which is very
popular, always in February,and then we have a day in early
June that's called the seaman'sday, which you, it's like you
(26:38):
celebrate the fishermen ofIceland, and that's always a big
event in the museum.
And we have, like, the safetyschool of fishermen I told you
about.
They do their practices and letyou try some of those safety
equipment for instance.
Oh, that's awesome.
So that's that's the really funevent to participate in and you
can see the display outside onthe street, all the weird
(27:01):
creatures that come out of thesea.
And then, obviously, we alwayshave great programs for the
school kids of Reykjavik andsurrounding areas, which is
always very popular.
There's one part of theexhibition it's about stories
from people out on the sea.
So you listen to stories andpeople tell you about things
that happened out on the sea.
And there's somebody talksabout how it's not very sanitary
(27:24):
to relieve yourself in theboats.
You know telling story of that.
And someone tells a story abouthow they missed their wives
because they're so long away,things like that.
So I like that when people tellpersonal stories of their life
out at sea or in other harbors.
When there was no communication, you couldn't hardly write
letters because you don't knowwhere you are, you don't know
(27:45):
when you come back.
It's just a really lovely museumby the harbor.
The location is also reallygreat.
We have the view over the oldharbor, which is really nice,
and you can see the Harpamusical at the other end, which
is sort of one of our landmarkshere in Reykjavik, and we also
have a temporary exhibition hallwhich at the moment, there's a
(28:06):
sort of a video artwork ofmicrofilming of water.
That's very nice Something thatyou wouldn't see with your bare
eyes.
But you know all the differentformations in the water that you
don't see unless it's under amicroscope.
So that's really nice.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
That's awesome.
Well, thank you so much formeeting with me and telling me
about this museum and sharingsome passion of the Icelandic
fisheries.
Speaker 2 (28:28):
Yeah, thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (28:30):
It's lovely.
Thank you so much for tuning inand supporting Curator's Choice
, a Mighty Oak Media production.
If you enjoyed the show, pleaseconsider subscribing and rating
the show on Apple Podcasts,spotify, youtube or wherever you
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If you love a museum and wouldlike to hear it featured in an
episode, shoot me a message atcuratorschoicepodcast at
(28:52):
gmailcom.
I'll do my best to reach outand see if I can get them to be
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You can also view articles,artifacts and more by following
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Thanks for listening toCurator's Choice, a podcast for
history nerds and museum lovers.
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Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!