THE WHALING INDUSTRY 709 



with caustic soda, and separate the vitamin A-bearing oil in a Sharpies centrifuge 

 (Anon., 1949b). 



As numerous investigators do not agree on the amounts of oil (fat) in the liver 

 and the potency of vitamin A in different samples from even the same species, 

 there must actually be a great deal of variability in these two matters. The deter- 

 mination of vitamin A is complicated by the presence of "kitol." This factor is 

 similar to vitamin A into which it can be converted, and it absorbs ultraviolet 

 light of wavelength 328 Angstrom units like vitamin A, but is not absorbed by 

 animals. Hence, it gives falsely high values for vitamin A (Swain, 1949). 



The general values of livers, oil, and vitamin A were summarized by Braekken 

 (1948), who brought back many samples from the Antarctic. 



Av. per cent Av. potency Vit. A A\'. potency Vit. A 



nil in li\7*ir in cf li\7<=>r in O" nil 



oil in liver in g liver in g 



Sperm (all bulls) 5.54 4,880 1.U. 83,700 1.U. 



Blue whale 4.08 3,950 1.U. 91,100 1.U. 



Finback whale 3.83 1,170 1.U. 27,600 1.U. 



For the ordinary "porpoise" Bailey (1941) found 20,000 to 30,000 Blue U. per 

 g of liver, and for the white porpoise, or "beluga," he (1942) found 6,000 and 

 14,000 USP units per g of oil in two samples. In the Pacific white bellied porpoise 

 Sanford and Kenyon (in Scheffer 1949) found 4,150, 19,500, and 25,800 units 

 (I.U.) per g (liver) in three samples. 



Braekken also determined that vitamin D was almost absent (0.75 I.U. per g 

 of oil from blue and finback whales ) , but that the vitamin B complex of thiamine, 

 riboflavin, and niacin, with a potency equal to that of beef, was present in finback 

 and blue whale liver. The antianemic factor was absent, however. 



Meat Meal. Since meat of whales and other cetaceans, outside of Japan, Nor- 

 way, and the Arctic, is not usually consumed by humans or animals, it is con- 

 verted into meat meal. Freshness of the whale is important for good meal; other- 

 wise decomposition of the meat destroys some of its nutritive value and renders 

 it clayey. Since the protein content is about 90 per cent and the balance of amino 

 acids is good, the meal is a valuable addition to prepared cattle and other animal 

 foods. The German army was fed whale-meat meal in successful nutritional tests 

 just before World War II. The 10 per cent moisture content of the meal may cause 

 spontaneous combustion in storage, but to attempt to obtain meal too dry may mean 

 a fire in any flame dehydrator. High temperatures and pressures in processing are 

 bad. 



Turrentine (1915), basing his observations on an analysis by J. R. Lindemuth, 

 noted the nitrogen (11.59 per cent), phosphoric acid (0.94 per cent), moisture 

 (5.41 per cent), and oil content (12.8 per cent) of whale meal. The oil content 

 was higher than that of most lean meat and probably was picked up from some 

 chance admixture of fat in the processing. 



Whale meat is almost invariably cooked and pressed for some oil. Even if the 

 oil content in the meat is under 3 per cent, the meat must be partially cooked and 

 pressed of its moisture to make meal. IWR requue that all the meat of whales 

 shall be utilized, except that of the sperm whale. 



Ney and Tarr (1949) have found the recently recognized "animal protein fac- 



