Whale Bones (Ep. 3): Degreasing a Whale Skeleton

Now that nature has picked the young humpback’s skeleton clean, Mike and his team box up the whale bones and send them to his workshop along the southern British Columbia coast for degreasing—a gargantuan task that requires unusual tools. While Mike preps the bones, we delve into the history of whaling, modern-day attempts to protect whales, and all of the ways scientists learn about the hidden lives of humpbacks.

Hey, teachers! Here’s a cheat sheet of what’s included in this episode of Whale Bones:
- Indigenous whale hunting
- Commercial whaling: history, impact, especially in British Columbia, global moratorium
- Safeguarding whales: laws, marine protected areas, and sanctuaries
- Humpback whales: near extinction, current status, blubber, scientific advancements in studying whales (identifying individuals from flukes, radio telemetry tags, underwater microphones, drones)
- Humpback whale skeleton: degreasing and repairing the bones, the skill sets involved in articulating a whale skeleton (art, science, engineering)

This episode is part of our series Whale Bones, where we follow the story of a young humpback whale—revealed through his bones.

Created by the Hakai Institute
Produced and edited by Meigan Henry
Videography by Kristina Blanchflower, Grant Callegari, and Bennett Whitnell
Additional footage provided by Patrick/Adobe, Jonathan Bergshoeff, the Canada Gazette, Megan Hockin-Bennett, Keith Holmes, Library and Archives Canada/National Film Board fonds/e011175762, Koby Michaels, Ernest Belton Collection/National Archives of Canada, NOAA taken under NMFS MMPA Permit #14682, Scott Kraus/NOAA Central Library Historical Fisheries Collection, Commander John Bortniak/NOAA Corps, NOAA Fisheries, NOAA Sanctuaries, BlackBoxGuild/Pond5, kdonnellyza/Pond5, Stockfootage_Solutions/Pond5, WillFalcon/Pond5, Overflightstock/Shutterstock.com, Stepan Artemyev/Shutterstock.com, Josh Silberg, Storyblocks, and Matt Zeleny
“The Strike” by Bill Holm, photo by the Canadian Museum of History, Image #D2006-11253
Illustrations and maps by Mercedes Minck
Title graphic by Josh Silberg
Special thanks to Mike deRoos, Michiru Main, Katie Ford, Jackie Hildering/Marine Education & Research Society (MERS), Paul Cottrell/DFO, Stephen Raverty/DFO, and Nicole Smith

If you see an injured, stranded, entangled, or dead animal, keep your distance and contact the appropriate authorities:

24/7 marine mammal species incident hotline: 1-800-465-4336

https://www.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/species-especes/mammals-mammiferes/report-rapport/page01-eng.html#1

Learn more about Mike deRoos and his work at http://www.cetacea.ca/