710 MARINE PRODUCTS OF COMMERCE 



tor," APF, in both wet and dry Norwegian whale meat (wet, 59 micrograms per 

 povmd; dry, 140). 



Bone Meal. In the early days raw bone was discarded fresh because it was 

 too bulky to handle and cook. However, with the advent of the pressure cooker 

 it was converted into oil and bone meal. 



The cooked bone from the old pressure digesters was pulled out by hand, easily 

 dried, and then powdered and sacked for bone meal. Bone meal makes a fine fer- 

 tilizer, especially when mixed with meat meal in a 30:70 ratio. Turrentine (1915) 

 observed that bone meal had 3.01 per cent nitrogen, 26.08 per cent phosphoric 

 acid (PaOg), 2.53 per cent moisture, and a trace of oil. The oil content of any 

 fertilizer should be low. 



Bone from the rotary digester comes out as a fluid brei, which must be specially 

 handled so that it will make suitable powdered bone meal. It is usually discarded 

 from factory ships. 



Blood Meal. Blood meal is occasionally mentioned as a product of the whal- 

 ing industry, but it is not common. Most whales become exsanguinated from their 

 wounds, but occasionally one will retain much or all of its blood until the thoracic 

 and abdominal cavities are opened. In this case the outpouring blood can be saved 

 in the scuppers and sumps, and dried and powdered into meal. The blood content 

 of cetaceans is higher than most mammals, and amounts to perhaps 6/2 per cent 

 of the body weight (Laurie, 1933). The chemical composition of whole blood and 

 serum of sei and sperm whales and "dolphin" was given by Sudzuki (1924). 



Canned Meat. Occasionally a whaling station will can whale meat for human 

 or animal consumption. This has been done in the United States, Canada, and 

 New Zealand, and on some factory ships. The product has never been very popu- 

 lar though it can be made as tasty and nutritious as canned beef. 



In preparing whale meat for canning the meat is held in mild pickle for about 

 36 hours, cut for 1-pound tall cans, which are processed for 80 minutes at 220° F 

 (104.4° C) after sealing. 



Meat Extract. Several factory ships have recently produced a meat extract 

 which Jacobsen (1949) considered to be rich in vitamin A. However, Ash (1947) 

 did not mention any vitamin content, but believed that the creatine content was 

 the important ingredient and the basis of the price. He stated that the liquors re- 

 maining after the blubber and bone have been cooked and the meat pressed were 

 combined; that the gross particles were removed by vibrating screens; that the 

 oil was then separated and the remaining particles filtered (exceedingly difficult); 

 and that the remainder was evaporated until the water content was 20 per cent 

 and the pH adjusted to that of fresh meat. About half of the creatine of whale 

 meat was converted into creatinine during processing, and the creatinine was a 

 measure of overheating during evaporation. The product was canned. 



Gelatin from Stickwater. The gelatinous liquid from the cooks, after extraction 

 of any traces of oil, is "stickwater." This gelatin fails to make a good glue, but 

 contains a quantity of valuable proteins and special growth factors. 



Formerly, the stickwater was allowed to cool in an open, outside tank, and 

 the gelatinous scum taken oflF, cut in strips, and dried on wire frames. More mod- 

 ern methods of separating the fibers by vibrating screens and centrifuging the 

 remaining liquid are found on some recent factory ships; but the installation of 



