Sædýrasafnið (Hafnarfjörður Aquarium)

## Sædýrasafnið

Oscar leaps out of the water at Sædýrasafnið. Dated February 14th, 1988. Photo provided by Morgunblaðið.

### Owner

Jón Kr. Gunnarsson

Sædýrasafnið, also known as the Hafnarfjörður Aquarium, was a small zoo and aquarium located in the small town of Hafnarfjörður in south Iceland. It opened on May 8th, 1969 displaying fish and marine life found in Icelandic waters. It was founded by Jón Kr. Gunnarsson and operated by the Hjálparsveit Skáta, the local Icelandic scout rescue team. Over the years the aquarium began expanding its collection, housing everything from native fish, seals, porpoises, and even lions, polar bears, kangaroos and monkeys. Most notably, the aquarium housed some of the worlds most well known killer whales: Keiko, Kiska and Tilikum. The aquarium shut down in 1987 due to financial issues.

## Founding and Early History

   Sædýrasafnið (Hafnarfjörður Aquarium) was founded in 1969 by Icelandic captain, journalist, and editor Jón Kr. Gunnarsson. Gunnarsson was also known for overseeing a large majority of the Icelandic killer whale captures. The aquarium opened on May 8th, 1969, but despite its name the aquarium did not limit it's collection to just marine animals. Over the years the aquarium grew bigger and more animals were added to the collection. Many of the animals on display were non-native and exotic species. The aquarium became a very popular past time among Icelandic locals because of its display of exotic animals, especially killer whales and lions.

## Killer Whale Captures

Between 1975 and 1987, killer whales were frequently captured in Icelandic waters to be sold into the aquarium industry. Around 50 killer whales in total were captured and kept at the aquarium over the course of a decade, 17 of which would eventually end up in SeaWorld parks. Among the 50 or so killer whales that were housed at the aquarium were some of the worlds most famous killer whales. They were Keiko, the killer whale who would later become world famous for his role as Willy in Free Willy, and Tilikum, the most well-known captive killer whale in the world. Only three out of all of the killer whales captured in Iceland are still alive as of March 10th, 2023. They are Ulises (resides at SeaWorld San Diego), Katina, (resides at SeaWorld Orlando), and Stella (resides at the Port of Nagoya public aquarium). Killer whale captures in Icelandic waters had completely stopped by 1989 and the last four killer whales to be captured remained at the aquarium until 1990.

### Incidents

    The conditions in which the animals were kept in were described as poor and dirty. Trash was often thrown into the enclosures. Among the many animals kept at the aquarium was a polar bear named Björn. Björn was a popular attraction among the locals and was Gunnarsson's most beloved animal at the aquarium. In 1984, when Björn was fifteen years old, a glass bottle was thrown into his enclosure and the bottle subsequently shattered, leaving shards of glass left behind in Björn's enclosure. The zookeepers did not notice the shards of glass laying around, and it wasn't until they noticed Björn limping around his enclosure that they realized something was wrong. Unfortunately his wound became infected and he died of septicemia shortly after.

    Another incident that was reported happened when Tilikum attacked his trainer, Sigfús Haldórsson, when he was trying to get Tilikum to move between two holding pools. Tilikum refused to move and reportedly pulled Haldórsson down and ended up tearing a large chunk of fabric out of Haldórsson's wetsuit. Tilikum was three years old at the time of the incident.

There had been multiple occasions where an animal held at the aquarium attacked or bit a visitor. A woman had reportedly entered the aquarium while under the influence and reached into the lion's enclosure to pet it. The lion bit her hand and pulled it towards the bars of the enclosure, severely wounding and breaking the womans hand. In 1972 a chimpanzee reportedly bit the finger of a young child.

### Closing

     Sædýrasafnið closed in 1987 after 18 years of operation. The aquarium's main source of income was the capture, display, and sale of live killer whales, and as killer whale captures became less frequent in Icelandic waters, the aquarium struggled to stay open and subsequently shut down due to financial issues. The last remaining killer whales at the aquarium, and the last killer whales to ever be captured in Icelandic waters, Sharkane, Ai, Tanouk, and Ran, were all sold to marine parks in 1990. The rest of the animals were euthanized and some were used for taxidermy. A year after the aquarium closed, four wallabies were discovered in one of the aquarium's old buildings. They had been accidentally left behind in their habitats following the aquarium's closure, and were still alive. The wallabies were seized and euthanized a week after they were discovered in the building.

## Galleries

* **Photos** of Sædýrasafnið
* **Videos** of Sædýrasafnið

## Killer Whales kept at Hafnarfjörður

Below is a list of every killer whale that was kept at the Hafnarfjörður Aquarium over the course of 18 years. The list includes the date when the killer whale arrived to the aquarium, and the date when they left the aquarium (either transport, death or release).

## References

1. ↑ Jón Kr. Gunnarsson's obituary.
2. ↑ ‘Heartbreaking’ Footage of Orca Training in Iceland
3. ↑ The Icelandic live capture fishery for killer whales, 1976-1987
4. ↑ Largest polar bear in the world dead; Stepped on a glass shard and died from blood poisoning
5. ↑ Icelandic trainer barely escapes an attack by a killer whale
6. ↑ Ljón beit konu. (A lion bit a woman)
7. ↑ ''*Rekstur safnins var alla tíð þungur og lá starfsemi þess meðal annars niðri í um ár vegna rekstrarerfiðleika. Svo fór að lokum að þessi eini dýragarður landsins sem þá var lagðist af árið 1987. Í frétt Morgunblaðsins frá því í febrúar árið 1987 kom fram að dýrunum var fargað eða þau stoppuð upp.*'' via https://www.mbl.is/greinasafn/grein/1488295/
8. ↑ Kangaroos left in the cold and draft in Hafnarfjörður