Field Notes: Whale Bone Hodgepodge!

Michel tilts the box onto its side to pour out as much greyish liquid as possible and make the dolphin remains easier to reach. It was rather disgusting to witness. But having volunteered to help him with this task, I get the ball rolling and reach in to grab the first vertebrae I can get my fingers on. You really have to search everything thoroughly so as not to miss any bones. Because this dolphin was a juvenile, some parts of its skeleton, including the vertebral discs, were not completely fused. One must therefore be particularly careful not to overlook any discs amongst the maggots.

I look at the new vat that we have just prepared. Tomorrow, we will boil a beluga carcass in it. And not just any beluga. The beluga in question had been recovered by the Marine Mammal Emergencies team in late May on Saint-Barnabé Island near Rimouski. Along with the other seasonal workers, we had the opportunity to see this carcass at our training when we arrived at the end of May.

The following day, Kevin (who is also a seasonal worker) joined our happy team. Without further ado, we put our equipment back on. After crafting a makeshift table and heating the vat, we move to the one containing the beluga. I’ll spare our readers the details about what the bottom of the vat looked like, because this time it was Kevin who was responsible for retrieving the bones. Unlike the dolphin, the beluga was not completely decomposed, as the carcass had only been there since last May. We therefore have some flensing work to do on this carcass today in order to rid as many bones as possible of their remaining flesh. Armed with one or more knives, we get to work once everyone has their section of the beluga. The bones or pieces that we have managed to separate from the carcass are then put into the vat with the water to be heated, which helps soften the last remaining pieces of flesh on the bones.

We continued our work around the vat for several hours. We collected the heated chunks of carcass to continue to remove as much flesh as possible.

During the flensing work, we pay more attention to the details of the beluga’s skeleton. Especially its spine, as this beluga suffered from scoliosis. Some of its vertebrae showed an asymmetrical malformation, in addition to two vertebrae that were fused together. It must have been difficult to live with this major deformity, especially considering that this beluga was an adult!