302 THE WEALTH OF THE SEA 



humpback is the best for eating, though the fin- 

 back, sei, and California gray whales yield excellent 

 meat. About six tons of edible meat are obtained 

 from an average-sized humpback; a fin-back fur- 

 nishes somewhat more, and a sei whale somewhat 

 less. Whale meat should be cooked slowly with moist 

 heat. Roasts, pot-roasts, and steaks are the most 

 popular whale dishes. 



When whales are taken far at sea or in a region 

 where whale meat is not eaten, the flesh is converted 

 into scrap, which is commonly used as stock feed, 

 but it is also mixed with other plant nutrients and 

 used as fertilizer. The process used in the manu- 

 facture of scrap is similar to the process employed 

 in the preparation of fish meal, except that much 

 more cooking is required. The meat is cut into small 

 pieces and placed in a pressure cooker, where it is 

 cooked for about ten hours with steam under about 

 forty pounds pressure. After the water and oil have 

 been drawn off, the cooked meat is pressed, usually 

 in hydrauhc presses, until most of the water has 

 been forced out. The pressed scrap is thoroughly 

 dried in rotary hot-air driers, and then is finely 

 ground and sacked for shipment. 



No part of the whale is wasted. The tongue and 

 kidney fat are cooked with the blubber, thus ren- 

 dering the oil. The viscera are cooked, pressed, 

 dried, and then ground into fertilizer. The bones, 

 which are spongy and contain much oil, are cut up 

 and then cooked under steam pressure. Pressure 

 cooking extracts the oil, which is then run off and 

 separated from the water. The steamed bones, after 



