7 Reasons You MUST Visit Iceland’s Unbelievable Shark Museum
Curious about the taste of shark meat? If you are in Iceland, you should be brave and find out.
Bjarnarhofn Shark Museum is in western Iceland on the north coast of the Snaefellsness Peninsula. We visited the museum while traveling along the ring road. Before making our way to the peninsula, we made a stop to check out the shark museum.
These are the 7 reasons why you MUST visit Iceland’s Shark Museum
1. It is a relatively inexpensive activity for Iceland.
The price to visit the museum is 1,400 ISK ($10.76) for adults. Children 0-15 are free.
2. The family has been in the sharking industry for 400 years.
Bjarnarhofn has been a family-run business since 1608. The same family cures the shark meat and runs the shark museum, so your tour will be given by one of the family members.
3. You will learn about the fascinating Greenland shark.
Once you arrive, you will have some time to explore the museum on your own. Then you will meet your guide and learn all about the biology of the Greenland Shark. Did you know that the Greenland shark can live between 250-500 years?! And its meat is toxic unless it is fermented. You will learn all of that and more at the shark museum.
4. You get to try the Icelandic national dish Hákarl.
Our guide informed us that there are two ways to try the shark meat. The first way is to put a small piece of shark meat on a toothpick with rye bread. The second way is the Icelandic way with no rye bread.
After learning that the shark meat is toxic unless it goes through a six-month fermenting process, we were a little apprehensive about trying it. It has a terrible ammonia smell, but it smells worse than it tastes.
Pro tip- do not smell the shark meat before you try it. I learned that the hard way.
It is fair to say that we did not go back for seconds or find out how the shark meat tastes the Icelandic way. We think that it is an acquired taste. I guess it is similar to eating crawfish. Most people outside of the southern USA do not think eating a mudbug is too appealing, but having grown up in Louisiana, Crawfish are delicacies.
5. You will learn all about Iceland’s sharking industry and the process of fermenting shark meat.
After trying the shark and unsuccessfully getting the smell out of our nose hairs, we went outside to the drying house to see the hanging shark meat. The meat is hanging up inside of a barn to dry. You can smell the ammonia long before making it into the drying house. Upon further examination, we noticed that the shark meat had developed a crust from the ammonia. It does not sound appetizing, but it is quite the delicacy in Iceland.
6. The area around the museum is beautiful.
Be sure to soak in the atmosphere outside of the museum. Icelandic horses are roaming around, and a waterfall is on the property.
7. You can take home a souvenir.
The museum sells t-shirts that let everyone back home know that you tried fermented shark meat and survived. You can also buy shark meat to take home for your friends and family to try.
The shark museum is a unique stop along the Ring Road. We recommend taking an hour or so to visit. You’ll learn a lot and get to say that you’ve tried Iceland’s delicacy. You never know you might like it!
Here is the location for the Shark Museum.
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Have you tried shark meat? What are you thoughts about it? We’d love to hear about your experience in the comments.
