Seal research

The objective of seal research at the Marine and Freshwater Research Institute is to conduct comprehensive research on seals in Iceland. The research area is the Vatnsnes Peninsula and inner Húnaflói Bay area in the northwestern part of Iceland, where a large number of harbour seals can be found in a relatively small area.

The harbour seal (Phoca vitulina) and the grey seal (Halichoerus grypus) are the only species to pup around Iceland. Four other species visit the island on a regular basis. Those species are harp seal (Phoca groenlandica), bearded seal (Erignathus barbatus), hooded seal (Cystophora cristata) and ringed seal (Phoca hispida). Walruses (Odobenus rosmarus) have also occasionally been found around Iceland but they are very rare