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Post by Bjarki on Aug 11, 2013 5:36:37 GMT -7
A couple of days ago, a pod of whales was spotted and some boats went out to start herding it to land. Me and some friends went to the designated beach where the whales would be beached. After having helped in beaching and killing the whales, we waited a few hours while the kill was counted (107 whales) and the shares among the people calculated (had to be shared with some 850 people). When the paperwork was finished they called out the names and what number of whale you would go to, and help butcher. The men designated to each whale would share out the meat and blubber in equal sized piles, after which a lottery among us was held. One man with a piece of paper with names on will turn his back on everyone else, while someone else points at a pile of meat asking who will have that one. This is to prevent people from hogging the best cuts of meat to themselves, and encourages sharing the good parts. On the whale I was designated to, our local tv chef was also with a camera, so in a couple of months I'll probs post that episode, showing how to kill, butcher and prepare whale. The share for each man taking part was 3/4 Skinn. 1 Skinn equals to 50 kg meat and 25kg blubber. But for some reason a couple of guys didn't show up to the butchering and thus forfeit their part, making it a bit more to the rest of us. We where 15 men for one whale. Some pictures I took today imgur.com/a/00dVD And some pictures from a previous drive about a month ago, some dude put this on the net imgur.com/a/QIqGY
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Post by cajunlady87 on Aug 11, 2013 8:35:24 GMT -7
Wow, now that is quite interesting and what a haul you have to eat later. What kind of whales and are they full grown as they seem to be young because of their small size. As to the teeth usage I have no idea but what do y'all normally use them for if anything. Do you use any of the blubber as oil lamp fuel?
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Post by Bjarki on Aug 11, 2013 9:53:53 GMT -7
Wow, now that is quite interesting and what a haul you have to eat later. What kind of whales and are they full grown as they seem to be young because of their small size. As to the teeth usage I have no idea but what do y'all normally use them for if anything. Do you use any of the blubber as oil lamp fuel? They are pilot whales, and don't get much larger than in those pics. The teeth are often used in jewelry, or as buttons. The blubber is eaten together with the meat, or together with some fish dishes. They used to boil the head of the whale for oil, but most of that had to be sent to the king as part of the taxes. These days, hardly anyone uses the oil that can be had from the heads. This haul of meat will last for a couple of years or so, as it isn't recommended to eat too much of it due to mercury levels n such.
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Post by offtrail on Aug 11, 2013 11:07:02 GMT -7
How cool is that!! a tradition that's been going on forever, thanks for sharing
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Post by cajunlady87 on Aug 11, 2013 11:12:46 GMT -7
Since the amount of meat you have will last a couple of years, is it safer to use the drying method to keep it longer instead of it getting freezer burnt? Nat Geo has a program titled "Life Below Zero" . They consume many seals and mentioned using the blubber as an important part of their meals, especially seal meat and fish as it adds other flavor for it to be more palpable and aids in digestion. I have to say you share a great part of your culture and look forward to each one as it is very interesting. I could look it up online but you're the Real McCoy.
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Post by Bjarki on Aug 11, 2013 12:27:48 GMT -7
The reason most people dry it instead of freezing, salting or fermenting it, is that dried whale meat is probably the most delicate snack you can get and you don't need to eat overly much to get full. Dried whale, together with raw salted blubber, cold potatoes, will at any event be a more popular snack than chips, candy or whathaveyou.
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Post by woodyz on Aug 11, 2013 12:41:20 GMT -7
Looks like maybe you could make arrow points with the teeth.
I have to admit that at first I was kind of upset that 100* whales were killed, but I am trying to get used to the idea that is it done that way.
So they run in "PODS"? Was that harvest the entire pod? Does that particular bloodline just become extinct?
You said some of the pictures were from a couple of months ago, how often are 100* killed?
Do you raise cattle or sheep and chickens as well, or is the main food supply from the ocean?
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Post by cajunlady87 on Aug 11, 2013 13:21:56 GMT -7
The reason most people dry it instead of freezing, salting or fermenting it, is that dried whale meat is probably the most delicate snack you can get and you don't need to eat overly much to get full. Dried whale, together with raw salted blubber, cold potatoes, will at any event be a more popular snack than chips, candy or whathaveyou. Looks yummy, I'd give it a try in a heartbeat.
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Post by Bjarki on Aug 11, 2013 13:28:08 GMT -7
Looks like maybe you could make arrow points with the teeth. I have to admit that at first I was kind of upset that 100* whales were killed, but I am trying to get used to the idea that is it done that way. So they run in "PODS"? Was that harvest the entire pod? Does that particular bloodline just become extinct? You said some of the pictures were from a couple of months ago, how often are 100* killed? Do you raise cattle or sheep and chickens as well, or is the main food supply from the ocean? The harvest is usually the entire pod, this time however when the whales were found, they where scattered out among 6-7 pods, but was considered as one huge pod which just was scattered over a big area, which men estimate to be in the area of 1000 specimen. And as far as I know... I saw one pod which seemed quite large being herded by boats when they suddenly dived and didn't appear again, two pods got herded together and got killed (the one I was helping with) the rest escaped or weren't being bothered. If a pod "refuses" to beach itself and cannot be driven onto land, it will be herded out to open waters again, same goes parts of pods that men are uncabable to drive onto land. If any number of whales get pass the half circle of boats then they are allowed to go free. Pods range in size from 2 whales (1 being considered a single whale duhh) up to 3000+. The largest killed was 1200 specimen, and men say that twice the amount got away, and this was back in 1940. We have records going back to 26-08-1584, with possible taxrecords in the archives of the Vatican going further back. First mention of whales being killed was back in 1298, which was a law regarding how to distribute whale meat, meaning that it has been going on for some time before that. Archelogical digs have shown whale bones among household waste dating back to ca year 700. Sorry for the history lesson it just jumped out my fingers Stats can be seen here www.heimabeiti.fo/default.asp?menu=71 you can see the year periods out in the side, and for numbers you need to look at the column "tal" It differs highly how many pods and whales are killed each year from 0-4448 (the higest number killed, spread out over 27 pods), but usually lies at around 1000 each year give or take a bit. Cattle are raised for milk, and the occasional slaugtherd head. Beef is imported for the most part. Sheep are raised a lot outnumbering humans by an huge margin, but not on industrial levels, as they are left to their own business out in the mountains the entire year, only being in contact with humans 3 times a year, during lambing, shearing/meds, and slaughter. We still have to import a lot of sheep meat from Iceland. Chickens are raised on a small personal level like in the rest of the world. The impact of the whale meat has been calculated. If we stopped whaling overnight and had to replace the meat with imported beef, we would have to step up the import of beef with 30%. The whale meat is free for everyone, as it is being shared among the population in equal amounts, though those who have taken part in the kill get a bigger share than the rest who live in the whale district. Our largest export is from fish and fish related products, ranging in at 95% of the export. So you could say that the main food suply is from the ocean. Ok, I'm feeling like I'm starting to rant/ramble on into forever, sorry for the long winded answer.
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Post by woodyz on Aug 11, 2013 13:39:29 GMT -7
I appreciate the information and you taking the time to share it. I find other cultures and history to be very interesting. I hope you didn't feel I was trying to be critical or anything like that, I am just trying to understand. You helped me understand a lot and again I do appreciate your sharing with us.
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Post by cajunlady87 on Aug 11, 2013 13:50:50 GMT -7
I appreciate the information and you taking the time to share it. I find other cultures and history to be very interesting. I hope you didn't feel I was trying to be critical or anything like that, I am just trying to understand. You helped me understand a lot and again I do appreciate your sharing with us. That goes for me too Woodyz. Bijarki, like many other species, is there a certain time of the year when the whale pods appear kinda like a migration of sorts? Thus another reason for killing so many at one time, not meaning that in a negative way. Of course it also has to be time consuming to process the whales once they're beached. Do y'all use other parts of the carcuses for other reasons like maybe baits of sorts? What about the whale bones, do they get used to make other things like tools or jewelry?
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Post by Bjarki on Aug 11, 2013 13:51:45 GMT -7
I appreciate the information and you taking the time to share it. I find other cultures and history to be very interesting. I hope you didn't feel I was trying to be critical or anything like that, I am just trying to understand. You helped me understand a lot and again I do appreciate your sharing with us. Your post had just enough sting for me to become a bit wary or thoughtful, but I didn't take it as critsicm, but more of a perhaps shocked surprise (with potential to turn into full blown criticism). I'm always open for sharing and getting info on cultural stuff myself. Feel free to ask about anything regarding stuff here on the Islands
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Post by Bjarki on Aug 11, 2013 14:01:43 GMT -7
That goes for me too Woodyz. Bjarki, like many other species, is there a certain time of the year when the whale pods appear kinda like a migration of sorts? Thus another reason for killing so many at one time, not meaning that in a negative way. Of course it also has to be time consuming to process the whales once they're beached. Do y'all use other parts of the carcuses for other reasons like maybe baits of sorts? What about the whale bones, do they get used to make other things like tools or jewelry? They appear at random year round, and it is open season year round, though the authorities have to give the deciding answer on if a pod is allowed to be herded or not. But the main number of kills happen in the months of July/August, migration patters mixed with beneficial weahter are the cause here. But they also appear at random around the country, thus more or less making a fair divide among everyone, though if a whale district is deemed to already have enough meat then the whales will be left alone. This was our first supply of whale meat for the last 3-4 years. Bones used to be used for all sorts of stuff, we have some old tools here in the house where the handles are whalebone n such. The whole carcass used to be used as fertilizer, it got dragged to the top of a field and left to rot and after a week or so it would be tipped over, and it would continue like that til it reached the sea and be dumped into the sea. Nowadays though the carcasses are dragged out to where there are currents (and thus fish) and dumped as fish food. Some people use bones these days for various decorating purposes, but not on a big scale. The skin used to be formed into ropes, the stomach when inflated used as floats or buoys, etc everything got used. The most time consuming part when processing the whales, would be a) herding them to a beach, b) waiting for the paper work on the shares to be done. The time to butcher a whale doesn't take long, specially if you know what you are doing and you usually are several persons to each whale. So absolute minimum time for ca 100 whales I'd say would be.... 20 min drive, 3 min killing, 3 hours paperwork by authorities (included here is lining up the whales on a dock or similar), 40 min butchering and sharing of the meat. A couple of hours for a few boats to drag the carcasses out to sea. And some hours for the individual person to cut, salt, freeze, prepare to dry etc, which can wary a bit depending on how much meat each person gets and how many are helping him when he gets home. So not overly long time, but still a bit. The guts are sometime used as bait by local fishermen. Ribs are also a semi popular treat for dogs. The teeth are probs the most used, for jewelry stuff.
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Post by cajunlady87 on Aug 11, 2013 14:15:57 GMT -7
It's good to know that whale hunting is regulated but 3-4 years is a long time. Hard to believe some people don't participate in the processing of them unless they're the elderly or are handicapped, in order to get their fair share of the bounty after such a long waiting period.
Those old tool handles must be prized from so many years back. Great keepsakes. Is the whale skin slimy when first out of the water? Do you process it in any way before serving it on a tray as in the pic above, same question for the blubber?
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Post by cowgirlup on Aug 11, 2013 14:18:41 GMT -7
I appreciate the information and you taking the time to share it. I find other cultures and history to be very interesting. I hope you didn't feel I was trying to be critical or anything like that, I am just trying to understand. You helped me understand a lot and again I do appreciate your sharing with us. I think we hear so much about endangered whales that your first thought is "Oh No! They killed whales!!!" But if they are of a type that aren't endangered then it isn't much different than harvesting any other fish. Plus it doesn't sound like it happens that often so they have time to reproduce. I love the idea that most everyone helps and then receives a share of the meat.
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