Caught on camera - Icelandic monster or fishing net?

• news.com.au
• February 08, 2012 10:01PM

• Cameraman captures footage of giant serpentine creature
• Footage could show the mythical "Icelandic worm monster"
• But sceptics say it's just a floating fishing net

Watch

Monster or myth

A huge snake appears in the Icelandic ice floe, or does it?

IT'S the cooler, more socially progressive cousin of the Loch Ness monster, and it's finally been caught on tape.

A cameraman has shot footage of what appears to be a giant serpentine creature weaving its way through the icy waters of lake Lagarfljót in east Iceland.

While there have been several sightings of the Lagarfljótsormurinn or “Icelandic worm monster” in modern times, sceptics have suggested this latest iteration is probably just a fishing net caught in the tide.

Legend has it that the Lagarfljótsormurinn started life as a tiny worm placed under a gold ring.

As a fully grown monster, it roamed the countryside, spitting poison and terrorising the local villagers.

While it was eventually thrown into the lake, it was never destroyed, and continues to bring bad luck to everyone it encounters.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/mythical-icelandic-worm-monster-makes-camera-appearance/story-e6frfkyi-1226265908800#ixzz1mAeMbXVP

Do not bring whale meat home from Iceland, British tourists told

Whale meat on sale at Keflavik airport prompts the Foreign Office to issue a warning to Britons at risk of breaching international law

Up to 70,000 Britons who visit Iceland each year have been given a stiff warning by the Foreign Office not to bring home any whale meat, saying to do so is in breach of international law protecting endangered species.

Penalties of imprisonment or fines up to £5,000 could be meted out by the courts, says the Foreign Office, because importation into Britain and other EU countries is illegal under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (Cites).

The government has added the warning to its advice on travelling to Iceland after being alerted to the fact that whale meat is on sale at Keflavik airport. Environment department Defra, responsible for border checks on illegal food imports, said: "There have been no reports of whale meat on sale in the UK or being seized at the border."

Icelandic whalers are trying to win tourists over to their point of view, offering them the chance to go to see [sic] with them, feel harpoons and eat whale meat and blubber.

http://www.u.tv/News/Do-not-bring-whale-meat-home-from-Iceland-British-tourists-told/6abae12e-98ed-4a64-bb66-489db2786f9b

Iceland exports more Fin whale meat to Japan

ahoo! urged to stop selling the meat of endangered whales
October 2011. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) has confirmed that another 131 tonnes of Icelandic Fin whale meat has been shipped to Japan and renewed its call for global retailer Yahoo! to immediately prohibit the sale of the endangered species via Yahoo! Japan.

The latest shipment brings the total of Fin whale exported to Japan since Iceland resumed commercial whaling to more than 1,500 tonnes, despite the CITES Appendix 1 listing of Fin whales clearly prohibiting international trade.

In July, the EIA report Renegade Whaling identified Icelandic company Hvalur and its multi-millionaire boss Kristján Loftsson as hunting Fin whales for export to Japan via a company he helped to set up.
US sanctions
But despite Iceland being certified under the US Pelly Amendment later that same month, it has now been confirmed that in August a new export to Japan took place of 131 tonnes of Fin whale product with an estimated value of 209 million Icelandic króna ($1.7 million).
On September 15, US President Barack Obama stated that Iceland's whaling and trade in the meat threatens the conservation status of an endangered species and undermines multilateral efforts to ensure greater worldwide protection for whales. Stopping short of targeted trade sanctions, he nevertheless announced diplomatic measures aiming to push Iceland to halt the trade.

Yahoo!
Yahoo Japan! sells numerous Icelandic Fin whale products, including large (1.5kg) blocks of meat, bacon (blubber) and canned products. As of September 2011, these products and many more were still available on the internet from Yahoo! Japan shopping sites; a survey by EIA found 10 different retailers offering Icelandic Fin whale meat products for sale via Yahoo! Japan.

"At a time when the US Government is applying international pressure to force an end to Iceland's whaling and international trade, Yahoo! Japan is effectively encouraging further hunting of the species by selling endangered Fin whale meat products on its website," said EIA Senior Campaigner Clare Perry.
"It's long past due that Yahoo! put its house in order and stopped profiting from, and stimulating, this bloody and wholly unnecessary slaughter."

EIA first called on Yahoo! Japan in April 2010 to ban all sales of whale, dolphin and porpoise products on its store and auction websites after discovering that many products contained high levels of the neurotoxin mercury.

http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/whale-meat.html

Iceland exports 131 tonnes whale meat, despite sanction threat

The Icelandic killing of Fin whales is illegal'
September 2011: More than 100 tonnes of whale products from Iceland's endangered Fin whales was exported in July - despite the pending threat of US trade sanctions.

America had warned Iceland it was considering the sanctions because it had violated a global ban on commercial whaling - but this has failed to prevent the export of a further 133 metric tonnes of whale meat.

The meat, worth more than $1.2million was exported to Japan in July.

Only US sanctions will stop this crime‘There is a line in the sand that Iceland has just crossed,' said Allan Thornton, president of America's Environmental Investigation Agency.

‘The Icelandic killing of Fin whales is illegal and its illegal export of whale meat will lead to further illegal killing of Fin whales. Only US sanctions against fish imports by the seafood company linked to Iceland's whaling company will stop this environmental crime.'

Since 2006, 280 endangered Fin whales, the second largest animal on the planet, have been killed by the Icelandic whaling company Hvalur, and earlier this year America confirmed that Iceland was undermining the effectiveness of the International Whaling Commission (IWC) by permitting commercial whaling and international trade in endangered Fin whale meat.

Iceland has exported almost 1400 metric tonnes of Fin whale meat and blubber to Japan , worth around $18 million, since it began killing Fin whales.

Meat shipped to Japan, Norway and LatviaAs well as the shipments of whale meat and blubber to Japan, Iceland has exported whale products including whale oil to Norway, the Faroes Islands and Latvia, despite a ban on such international trade in products of great whale species by the Convention on International trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

Conservationists are now pressing for action. Sue Fisher, policy director for the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society said: ‘Not only is Iceland abusing two international conservation agreements, it is setting Fin whale quotas that are three times higher than sustainable levels according to the Scientific Committee of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), the world's foremost authority on whale science.

‘American citizens overwhelmingly oppose commercial whaling, and nothing less than economic sanctions will fulfill President Obama's promise to strengthen the commercial ban on whale hunting.'

Susan Millward, executive director of the Animal Welfare Institute (AWI) said: ‘This recent export demonstrates the urgent need for President Obama to immediately impose economic measures including trade sanctions against Iceland.'
http://www.wildlifeextra.com/go/news/iceland-sanctions.html

You Will Believe In Bíldudalur: Visiting The Sea Monster Museum

Bíldudalur is like many small towns and villages in the Westfjords—nestled deep in a fjord against some intimidating mountains, comprised of what appears to be two or three streets and a handful of small houses. But Bíldudalur is special for two reasons.

First, the location itself shields the village from Iceland's characteristic relentless winds, making the weather relatively fair all year round. Second, it sits on the shores of Arnarfjörður, home to the bulk of Iceland's sea monsters. In fact, Bíldudalur has a museum dedicated to these creatures, which made our visit an unforgettable experience.

Read on...

Musician attempts to placate meddling huldufólk

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/07/04/icelandic_bombardment/


Musician attempts to placate meddling huldufólk

The good burghers of the Icelandic town of Bolungarvik have intervened to prevent further action by elves who are evidently unhappy they weren't consulted about the construction of an anti-avalanche barrier.

Bolungarvik recently suffered a bombardment of rocks during "routine dynamiting" on the barrier, with fist-sized missiles causing damage to several properties.

This led locals to suspect the huldufólk (hidden people) had finally got a bit miffed with civil engineering projects, including the construction last year of a road tunnel through a hill.

Icelandic folklore advises caution when venturing into possible huldufólk territory, and disturbing the rocks in which they're believed to live.

Bolungarvik's council rejected calls by "seers" to apologise to the Little People for the disruption, claiming there was a perfectly logical explanation for the dynamite mishap.

The townsfolk responded last week by organising an impromptu appeasement ceremony at the blasting site, offering song and prayers in the hope of restoring peace between humans and huldufólk.

Local musician Benedikt Sigurdsson explained: "I have now been asked by both elves and men to broker a compromise here, and I hope that this song will suffice."

Of Monsters and Men

The museum's website: http://www.skrimsli.is/index.php?Itemid=60
Of Monsters and Men

Ásta Andrésdóttir
27/06/2010

Last summer, I travelled for the first time to the West Fjords, that marvellous cluster of rough and rugged fjords. One of the destinations was Bíldudalur, on the southern side of Arnarfjördur fjord.

This village of 200 is best known for three things. Firstly, green beans – an Icelandic Sunday lamb essential – used to be manufactured here. Secondly, a singer has turned his home into a shrine to Icelandic pop music. Then there's The Icelandic Sea Monster Museum, which funnily enough, is located in the old green bean factory. Arnarfjördur fjord has in fact established a reputation as being the habitat of sea monsters, with more than 200 documented sightings through the centuries.

The museum, which opened its doors last year, is a vast black space, broken up in the centre by a tall glass case containing books, photographs, letters, seashells and other items related to the theme. Plasma screens on the walls show interviews with people describing their monster sightings, mixed in with eerie images of an angry sea.

The museum’s pride is a sizeable interactive glass table containing an old style map of the fjord. By moving a glass sphere over the place names, somewhat like playing spirit of the glass, related monster stories pop up.

Visiting Arnarfjördur bore a special significance to me. On a farm in a secluded valley overlooking the fjord, my late grandmother was born and raised. I felt myself getting closer to my roots.

Excited as a child on Christmas Morning, I slid the sphere across the map, placing it over her valley. Sure enough, an account of a monster sighting appears on the screen.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I realized that the eyewitness was her brother. My granduncle.

It was the year 1927 and he was fourteen years old. On a dusky autumn afternoon, he noticed a maroon-coloured beast standing on the beach. It was at least ten feet long and the height of a calf. Its head was large and ugly; it had huge protruding eyes and a tangled mane, resembling that of a lion. The beast appeared to be covered in seashells; its arched back was wide and cylindrical; its large tail narrowed downwards. It was turned away from him, snooping about in the seaweed. But when he threw a rock in its direction, it slowly turned around, raising its ugly head and staring at him.

Beholding its jaws, he panicked and ran all the way home.

When he got home and told the shocking tale, an old man gathered that this had been a malicious sheep-like creature called fjörulalli, infamous for trying to drive humans into the sea.

Luckily enough, my great uncle managed to escape.

Heading towards our next destination, my grandmother’s valley, the sea monsters remained on my mind, especially the one that my uncle claimed to have seen. While realizing that these are mythical creatures, deep down inside I can’t help believing in their existence.

To me, the West Fjords are a place where anything can happen.

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_life/?cat_id=16568&ew_0_a_id=364245

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