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Information about Blubber

This article is about the body tissue. For the Judy Blume novel, see Blubber (novel)
For the fictional bear called Blubber, see Wacky Races
Blubber is a thick layer of vascularized fat found under the skin of all cetaceans, pinnipeds and sirenians. It covers the whole body, except for the appendages, loosely attached to the musculature. It can comprise up to 50% of the body mass of some marine mammals during some points in their lives. Blubber serves several different functions, it is the primary area of fat on some mammals , and essential for storing energy. It is particularly important for species which feed and breed in different parts of the ocean. During these periods the species are operating on a fat-based metabolism.

Blubber is, however, biochemically different from other forms of adipose tissue, which allows it to serve as an efficient thermal insulator, making it an essential for thermoregulation. It has advantages over fur (as used in Sea Otters) in this respect; fur can retain heat by holding pockets of air, but under pressure (while diving) the air pockets will be expelled. Blubber, however, does not compress under pressure. It can also aid in buoyancy, and acts to streamline the body.

Blubber, as Muktuk, formed an important part of the traditional Inuit diet because of its high energy value. One of the major reasons for the whaling trade was the collection of whale blubber. This was rendered down into oil in try pots or later, in vats on factory ships.

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Whaling
Blubber

Author Judy Blume
Country United States
Language English
Genre(s) Young adult novel
Publisher Bradbury
Publication date 1974
Media type Print (Paperback)
Pages 153 pp
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Wacky Races is an animated television series from Hanna-Barbera, about a group of 11 different cars racing against each other in various road rallies, with each driver hoping to win the title of the "World's Wackiest Racer.
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The blood vessels are part of the cardiovascular system and function to transport blood throughout the body. The most important types, arteries and veins, carry blood away from or towards the heart, respectively.
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Fat

Fat may refer to:
  • Fat, a group of compounds that are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water
  • Adipose tissue, an anatomical term for loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes

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Cetacea
Brisson, 1762

Diversity
Around 88 species; see list of cetaceans or below.

Suborders

Mysticeti
Odontoceti
Archaeoceti (extinct)
(see text for families)

The order Cetacea
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Pinnipeds ("fin-feet", lit. "winged feet") are marine mammals belonging to the former biological suborder Pinnipedia (sometimes now a superfamily) of the order Carnivora. The pinnipeds now fall within the suborder Caniformia and comprise the families Odobenidae (walruses),
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Sirenia
Illiger, 1811

Families

Dugongidae
Trichechidae
†Prorastomidae
†Protosirenidae

For information about the Gothic metal band, see Sirenia (band)


Sirenia
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Mammalia
Linnaeus, 1758

Subclasses & Infraclasses
  • Subclass †Allotheria*
  • Subclass Prototheria
  • Subclass Theria

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Metabolism is the complete set of chemical reactions that occur in living cells. These processes are the basis of life, allowing cells to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories.
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adipose tissue or fat is loose connective tissue composed of adipocytes. Its main role is to store energy in the form of fat, although it also cushions and insulates the body.
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thermal insulation can refer to materials used to reduce the rate of heat transfer, or the methods and processes used to reduce heat transfer.

Heat is transferred from one material to another by conduction, convection and/or radiation.
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Thermoregulation is the ability of an organism to keep its body temperature within certain boundaries, even when temperature surrounding is very different. This process is one aspect of homeostasis: a dynamic state of stability between an animal's internal environment and its
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fur refers to the body hair of non-human mammals also known as the pelage (like the term plumage in birds). Fur comes from the coats of animals; the animal's coat may consist of short ground hair, long guard hair, and, in some cases, medium awn hair.
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Enhydra
Fleming, 1828

Species: E. lutris

Binomial name
Enhydra lutris
(Linnaeus, 1758)


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In physics, buoyancy is the upward force on an object produced by the surrounding fluid (i.e., a liquid or a gas) in which it is fully, or partially immersed, due to the pressure difference of the fluid between the top and bottom of the object.
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Muktuk is the Inupiaq Eskimo word for the traditional meal of whale skin and blubber. In the Siberian Yupik language of St. Lawrence Island, Alaska, this same food is called Mungtuk.
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Whaling is the harvesting of free-roaming whales from the oceans and dates back to at least 6,000 BC. Whaling and other threats have led to at least 5 of the 13 great whales being listed as endangered.
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Whale oil is the oil obtained from the blubber of various species of whales, particularly the three species of Right Whale (Eubalaena japonica, E. glacialis, and E. australis) and the Bowhead Whale (Balaena mysicetus) prior to the modern era, as well as several other species of
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A try pot is a large pot used to remove and render the oil from blubber obtained from cetaceans, pinnipeds and also to extract oil from Penguins<ref name=""> [1] A Whaling Trypot, National Maritime Museum, London Once a whale had been caught and killed,
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Whaling is the harvesting of free-roaming whales from the oceans and dates back to at least 6,000 BC. Whaling and other threats have led to at least 5 of the 13 great whales being listed as endangered.
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The International Whaling Commission (IWC) was set up by the International Convention for the Regulation of Whaling (ICRW)[1] on 2 December 1946 to promote and maintain whale fishery stocks.
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History of whaling is very extensive, stretching back for millennia. This article discusses the history of whaling up to the moratorium (1982).

Prehistoric to medieval times

Humans have engaged in whaling since prehistoric times.
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Aboriginal whaling is the hunting of whales carried out by aboriginal groups who have a tradition of whaling.

Under the terms of the 1986 moratorium on whaling, the International Whaling Commission allows whaling carried out by aboriginal groups if it occurs on a subsistence
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Dolphin drive hunting, also called dolphin drive fishing, is a method of hunting dolphins and occasionally other small cetaceans by driving them together with boats and then usually into a bay or onto a beach.
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Whaling in Australia took place from colonisation in 1788. In 1979 Australia terminated whaling and committed to whale protection. The main varieties hunted were Humpback, Blue, Right and Sperm Whales.
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Whaling in Western Australia was one of the first viable industries established in the Swan River Colony following the arrival of British settlers in 1829. The industry had numerous ups and downs until the last whaling station closed in Albany in 1978.
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Whaling in the Faroe Islands has been practised since at least the tenth century.[1] It is regulated by Faroese authorities and approved by the International Whaling Commission.
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Iceland has a long tradition of subsistence whaling; whaling of one form or another has been conducted from the island since it became populated more than eleven hundred years ago.
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Japan has a long history of whaling. However, current whaling conducted by Japan is a source of political dispute between pro-whaling countries and anti-whaling organizations.
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