Brandal is a small village on the northern tip of Hareidlandet. It looks like any quiet coastal settlement, but for a century this was the centre of Arctic seal hunting for all of western Norway.
It started in 1898 when father and son Severin and Peter Brandal took their reinforced boats into the polar ice for the first time. They found not just seals but also walruses, polar bears and musk oxen. Peter Brandal quickly saw the potential. He ordered purpose-built sealing vessels, constructed a seal oil refinery, and even built one of the first electricity plants in the district. The village became a base for polar expeditions to Greenland and Svalbard. At its peak, Brandal had polar bears in cages by the shore and musk oxen grazing on the mountain, all waiting to be shipped to zoos across Europe.
It was also extremely dangerous work. Two out of three vessels that went out were eventually wrecked. In 1917, seven ships and 84 crew disappeared without a trace. In 1952, five ships and 79 men were lost. Over the hundred years of the industry, Hareid municipality alone sent out 57 Arctic ships. 41 of them sank.
The last seal hunt from Brandal was in 2007. Today the Ishavsmuseet, the Arctic Ocean Museum, tells this story over three floors in an old waterfront shed that was once used for processing sealskins. The main attraction is the Aarvak, built in Bergen in 1912, the oldest preserved seal hunting vessel in Norway. It served continuously until 1981 and is now displayed on shore in its own building. Outside you can also see the Polarstar, Norway's first steel-built sealing vessel from 1948, now a protected cultural heritage ship.
The museum is open during summer. It is a small place, but the stories it tells are anything but small.
It started in 1898 when father and son Severin and Peter Brandal took their reinforced boats into the polar ice for the first time. They found not just seals but also walruses, polar bears and musk oxen. Peter Brandal quickly saw the potential. He ordered purpose-built sealing vessels, constructed a seal oil refinery, and even built one of the first electricity plants in the district. The village became a base for polar expeditions to Greenland and Svalbard. At its peak, Brandal had polar bears in cages by the shore and musk oxen grazing on the mountain, all waiting to be shipped to zoos across Europe.
It was also extremely dangerous work. Two out of three vessels that went out were eventually wrecked. In 1917, seven ships and 84 crew disappeared without a trace. In 1952, five ships and 79 men were lost. Over the hundred years of the industry, Hareid municipality alone sent out 57 Arctic ships. 41 of them sank.
The last seal hunt from Brandal was in 2007. Today the Ishavsmuseet, the Arctic Ocean Museum, tells this story over three floors in an old waterfront shed that was once used for processing sealskins. The main attraction is the Aarvak, built in Bergen in 1912, the oldest preserved seal hunting vessel in Norway. It served continuously until 1981 and is now displayed on shore in its own building. Outside you can also see the Polarstar, Norway's first steel-built sealing vessel from 1948, now a protected cultural heritage ship.
The museum is open during summer. It is a small place, but the stories it tells are anything but small.