Blubber: Difference between revisions
HairyWombat (talk | contribs) m Undid revision 467265160 by 184.175.26.214 (talk) Vanadalism |
|||
| Line 19: | Line 19: | ||
==Human influences== |
==Human influences== |
||
===Uses=== |
===Uses=== |
||
[[Muktuk]](or mattak as it |
[[Muktuk]](or mattak as it is written in Greenlandic) (the [[Inuit]]/[[Eskimo]] word for blubber) formed an important part of the traditional diets of the Inuit and other northernly peoples because of its high energy value. Seal blubber has large amounts of [[vitamin E]], [[selenium]], and other [[antioxidant]]s, which may reduce the effect of the [[Free-radical theory|free radicals]] formed within the body's cells. Damage caused to cells by free radicals are a theorized contributor to some diseases. Whale blubber, which tastes like [[arrowroot]] biscuits, has similar properties.<ref>{{cite book | last1=Stefansson |first1=Eero |last2=Adriaensen |first2=Arxontis |year=1893 |title=Missionärer bland Eskimåer |trans_title=Missionaries Among the Eskimos |language=Swedish |publisher=Himmelriket på Jorden Publikationer |location=Göteborg |series=Uppdrag i Världen |page=138}}</ref> The positive effects of consuming blubber can be seen in [[Greenland]]; in [[Uummannaq]] for example, a hunting district with 3,000 residents, no deaths due to [[cardiovascular disease]]s occurred in the 1970s. However, emigrants to [[Denmark]] have contracted the same diseases as the rest of the population. The average 70-year-old Inuit with a traditional diet of whale and seal has arteries as elastic as those of a 20-year-old Danish resident.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.highnorth.no/Library/Culture/or-ea-me.htm| title= Orsoq - Eat Meat and Blubber from Sea Mammals and avoid Cardiovascular disease.}}</ref> |
||
[[Whaling]] was largely to collect blubber. This was [[Rendering (food processing)|rendered]] into [[whale oil|oil]] in [[try pot]]s, or later, in vats on [[factory ship]]s. The oil could be then used in the manufacture of soap, leather, and cosmetics.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Donovan | first = Greg | title = Whaling | encyclopedia = Microsoft Encarta | year = 2008}}</ref> Whale oil was used in candles as wax, and in [[oil lamp]]s as fuel. |
[[Whaling]] was largely to collect blubber. This was [[Rendering (food processing)|rendered]] into [[whale oil|oil]] in [[try pot]]s, or later, in vats on [[factory ship]]s. The oil could be then used in the manufacture of soap, leather, and cosmetics.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia | last = Donovan | first = Greg | title = Whaling | encyclopedia = Microsoft Encarta | year = 2008}}</ref> Whale oil was used in candles as wax, and in [[oil lamp]]s as fuel. |
||
Revision as of 16:49, 24 December 2011
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized adipose tissue found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians.
Description
Lipid-rich, collagen fiber–laced blubber comprises the hypodermis[1] and covers the whole body, except for parts of the appendages, strongly attached to the musculature and skeleton by highly organized, fan-shaped networks of tendons and ligaments. It can comprise up to 50 % of the body mass of some marine mammals during some points in their lives, and can range from two inches (5 cm) thick in dolphins and smaller whales, to more than 12 inches (30 cm) thick in some bigger whales, such as right and bowhead whales. However, this is not indicative of larger whales' ability to retain heat better, as the thickness of a whale's blubber does not significantly affect heat loss. More indicative of a whale's ability to retain heat is the water and lipid concentration in blubber, as water reduces heat-retaining capacities, and lipid increases them.[2]
Function
Blubber is the primary storage location of fat on some mammals. It is particularly important for species that feed and breed in different parts of the ocean. During these periods, the animals metabolize a fat. Blubber may save energy for marine mammals such as dolphins, in that it adds buoyancy to a dolphin while swimming.[3]
Blubber differs from other forms of adipose tissue in its extra thickness, which allows it to serve as an efficient thermal insulator, making blubber essential for thermoregulation. Blubber is more vascularized — rich in blood vessels — than other adipose tissue.
Blubber has advantages over fur (as in sea otters) in the respect that although fur can retain heat by holding pockets of air, the air pockets will be expelled under pressure (while diving). Blubber, however, does not compress under pressure. It is effective enough that some whales can dwell in temperatures as low as 40 °F (4 °C).[4] While diving in cold water, blood vessels covering the blubber constrict and decrease blood flow, thus increasing blubber's efficiency as an insulator.[5]
Blubber aids buoyancy, and streamlines the body because the organized, complex collagenous network supports the noncircular cross sections characteristic of cetaceans.
Research[6] into the thermal conductivity of the common bottlenose dolphin's blubber reveals its thickness and lipid content vary greatly amongst individuals and across life history categories. However, blubber from emaciated dolphins is a poorer insulator than that from nonpregnant adults, which in turn have a higher heat conductivity than blubber from pregnant females and adolescents.
Human influences
Uses
Muktuk(or mattak as it is written in Greenlandic) (the Inuit/Eskimo word for blubber) formed an important part of the traditional diets of the Inuit and other northernly peoples because of its high energy value. Seal blubber has large amounts of vitamin E, selenium, and other antioxidants, which may reduce the effect of the free radicals formed within the body's cells. Damage caused to cells by free radicals are a theorized contributor to some diseases. Whale blubber, which tastes like arrowroot biscuits, has similar properties.[7] The positive effects of consuming blubber can be seen in Greenland; in Uummannaq for example, a hunting district with 3,000 residents, no deaths due to cardiovascular diseases occurred in the 1970s. However, emigrants to Denmark have contracted the same diseases as the rest of the population. The average 70-year-old Inuit with a traditional diet of whale and seal has arteries as elastic as those of a 20-year-old Danish resident.[8]
Whaling was largely to collect blubber. This was rendered into oil in try pots, or later, in vats on factory ships. The oil could be then used in the manufacture of soap, leather, and cosmetics.[9] Whale oil was used in candles as wax, and in oil lamps as fuel.
Blue whales can yield blubber harvests of up to 50 tons.[10]
Health
Blubber from whales and seals contains omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D.[11] Without the vitamin D, for example, the Inuit and other natives of the Arctic would likely suffer from rickets. There is evidence blubber and other fats in the arctic diet also provide the calories needed to replace the lack of carbohydrates found in the diets of cultures in the rest of the world.[12]
Toxicity
Blubber contains naturally-occurring PCBs, carcinogens that damage human nervous, immune and reproductive systems.[13][14] The source of PCB concentrations is unknown. Since toothed whales are high on the food chain, they likely consume large amounts of industrial pollutants (bioaccumulation). Even baleen whales, by merit of the huge amount of food they consume, are bound to have toxic chemicals stored in their bodies. There are high levels of mercury in the blubber of seals of the Canadian arctic.
See also
Works
- ^ Struntz DJ et al. "Blubber development in bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus)." PubMed. From http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez.
- ^ P. H. Kvadsheim, a, b, , L. P. Folkowb, a and A. S. Blixb, a. "Thermal conductivity of minke whale blubber".
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "Science Update--Bouncy Blubber".
- ^ "Secrets of the Ocean Realm".
- ^ Don Galbraith et al. Biology 11. (Canada: McGraw-Hill Ryerson). pg. 12.
- ^ Dunkin, Robin; et al. (2005). "The ontogenetic changes in the thermal properties of blubber from Atlantic bottlenose dolphin Tursiops truncatus". Journal of Experimental Biology. 208 (Pt 8): 1469–80. doi:10.1242/jeb.01559. PMID 15802671. Retrieved 03-05-2005.
{{cite journal}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Explicit use of et al. in:|author=(help) - ^ Stefansson, Eero; Adriaensen, Arxontis (1893). Missionärer bland Eskimåer. Uppdrag i Världen (in Swedish). Göteborg: Himmelriket på Jorden Publikationer. p. 138.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|trans_title=ignored (|trans-title=suggested) (help) - ^ "Orsoq - Eat Meat and Blubber from Sea Mammals and avoid Cardiovascular disease".
- ^ Donovan, Greg (2008). "Whaling". Microsoft Encarta.
- ^ "Cetacean". Encyclopædia Britannica. Ultimate Reference Suite. 2008.
- ^ H.V. Kuhnlein, V. Barthet, A. Farren, E. Falahi, D. Leggee, O. Receveur, P. Berti, Vitamins A, D, and E in Canadian Arctic traditional food and adult diets, Journal of Food Composition and Analysis, Volume 19, Issues 6-7, Biodiversity and nutrition: a common path, September–November 2006, Pages 495–506, ISSN 0889-1575, DOI: 10.1016/j.jfca.2005.02.007. [1]
- ^ The Inuit Paradox
- ^ "Chemical Compounds Found In Whale Blubber Are From Natural Sources, Not Industrial Contamination".
- ^ "Japan warned on 'contaminated' blubber". BBC News. 2001-01-24. Retrieved 2009-12-31.