﻿NO. 7 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I926 



75 



to the covered cutting platform, where the bkibber near the head 

 is first loosened by means of huge knives, and then torn ofif by 

 cables. The larger muscle masses are similarly treated and the 

 skeleton disarticulated. The great strips of blubber are cut by hand 

 into pieces of convenient size and so fed into the blubber cutter, which 

 consists of a number of sharp blades revolving at high speed. The 

 resultant sludge is then led to giant, steam-heated vats and the 

 oil tried out. The lean meat of better quality is cut into slabs and 



Fig. 83. — Head of California gray whale, the animal lying on its back. 

 Note eye (a), baleen or whalebone (b), and large tongue (c). (Photo- 

 graph by L. M. Huey.) 



placed within large iron retorts in tiers, with iron plates between 

 each layer, where it is cooked for a number of hours, then dried 

 and finally ground. The waste, including the blood and viscera, 

 is dumped into open vats of boiling water and after being cooked, 

 the oil is separated and the solids dried and ground for fertilizer. 

 After most of the meat is cut from the bones the latter are also placed 

 in retorts and cooked. Considerable oil is obtained from them and the 

 dry bones are then dumped in a pile which grows to large propor- 

 tions as the season advances. The baleen or " whalebone " of this 

 group of whales is short and coarse and is not at present of com- 

 mercial value, so it, too, is cooked and ground for fertilizer. The 



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