58 



bei- is removed from the carcass and the inside fat is taken out by chopping 

 through the ribs, the carcass is hauled up to the carcass platform 

 which is at right angles to and a few feet higher than the main slip. 

 Here another gang of men remove the meat from the skeleton. This meat, 

 which very much resembles beef both in appearance and flavor and is fre- 

 quently eaten at the station, is put into pots arranged on both sides of the 

 platform, where it is boiled and the oil extracted from it by an acid pro- 

 cess. After the oil has been dipped from these meat pots, a sluice is 

 opened and the residue is allowed to drop into the chute, where it is run 

 into the drainage tank before mentioned, from thence going into the hot-air 

 dryer with the blubber residue. Here it is made into guano by a drying 

 process which dries the material thoroughly and then shreds it fine, 

 after which it is ready for the market, its value as a fertilizer being very 

 high. The blubber oil is ready for barreling as soon as it is cold, but the 

 meat oil has to be clarified first, to remove the little particles of meat re- 

 maining in the liquid. The latter is the darker of the two oils, both be- 

 fore and after clarifying. 



Heretofore, the parts of the whale utilized and the products prepared at 

 a whaling station were as follows : Tails and tongues, sliced into thin strips 

 and shipped to Japan, where they are eaten ; oil, guano, bone meal, and the 

 baleen or whalebone of commerce. A glue was also made from tlie residue 

 of the blubber after boiling which was used for coating the insides of the 

 barrels to hold the oil. In addition, experiments were made with the prep- 

 aration of a meat extract from the flesh, and with the preparation of leather 

 from the skin and stomach wall. An important addition to these uses, is the 

 preparation and utilization of the flesh of whales as a food for the human 

 family. 



Seven whaling stations have been established along the Pacific Coast, and 

 fully equipped for the preparation and handling of whale products. Each 

 of these has its whaling fleet, that scours the ocean for a supply for the 

 plant. These plants disposed of about one thousand whales during the 

 season of 1918. It was my privilege to visit the Kyuquot Station in that 

 year. My visit was at a fortunate time. The flenced carcass of a 

 monster female whale was on the floor of the plant, and six others were 

 anchored in the bay. These consisted of two Sperm whales, one Finback, 

 one Bowhead. one Sulphur Bottom and one Humpback. They had just 

 been brought in from a distance of sixty miles, thus showing how scarce 

 whales are getting to be on the Pacific coast. When our vessel came into 

 the bay. and stirred the water, it was red with the blood of the slaughtered 

 whales. I was able to examine the various processes of handling and con- 

 verting whales into their various products. I was especially interested in 

 the process of preparing and canning the flesh for human food and could 

 see no reason why it would not be perfectly edible. In every detail it was 

 done in a most cleanly manner. Certainly the flesh of a whale is grown 

 or made from the cleanest of food and free from diseased conditions. Other 

 nations use and relish the flesh of the whale as food. Why should not 

 Americans do so? By doing so the question of meat supply will be much 

 simplifled. 



