Sea monster museum, Iceland

Photo © Coryn Wolk

Forget our shy and retiring Nessie. The kind of monsters that are said to have roamed the seas off Iceland would have kicked her scaly butt.

Stories of ship-sinking sea monsters off the Westfjords peninsula go back centuries; most famous is the Kraken – a gigantic squid-like beast that captured the international imagination and has featured in many a work of fiction. But many more weird and wonderful legends persist here.

And the most commonly reported critters star in a new Sea Monster Museum in the village of Bíldudalur, Arnarfjördur. As well as compiling hundreds of eye-witness accounts, stories and drawings, it has interactive maps charting where you’re most likely to encounter them.

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