[NHCOLL-L:2683] Re: Sperm Whale skeleton

[ALBE, Monica Jane]

Dear Inaki,

A nice reference is "Marine Mammal Skeletal Preparation and Articulation" by Doreen Moser, Rebecca 
Duerr, (both from the Marine Mammal Center in Sausalito, CA) and Jack Hawkes (of the Marine 
Wildlife Veterinary Care and Research Center Santa Cruz, CA).  It reviews several techniques for 
cleaning, discussing the pros and cons of each technique.  It was a poster presentation at the 
Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals 2002, so you may have trouble finding the 
info, but it's worth getting a hold of.

Using bleaches and detergents usually leads to deterioration of the bones (they get crusty and 
brittle), I'd stay away from those as much as possible.

-Monica Albe

mjaskel at berkeley.edu
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
3101 VLSB
University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720-3160
phone: (510) 642-1379
http://mvz.berkeley.edu