[Nhcoll-l] fatty dolphin

[William Shepherd]

Hello Sergio,

                I don’t have any experience with specimens such as this but have you confirmed that it is the originally occurring fats/oils leeching out? I’ve talked with collections managers that have used portable spectrometry units to determine products on natural history specimens. If you’re able to access one if might be worth it to test the product leeching out or preform other types of tests. I ask in case it’s possible that it’s a product of the preservation breaking down, which might raise more health concerns. Possibility some sort of preservative or a combination of the preservative and naturally occurring/fats oils that have degraded over time?

I see Simon has seen similar examples, is this something that occurs from early on or is it a relatively recent development for specimens such as this? I’m guessing it’s age related more than anything, but could it be related to more modern environmental standards? Cooler temperatures are often the go to for many items to slow deterioration. Possibly an option here for the short or long term?

Best of luck.

William Shepherd
Collections Officer
Swift Current Museum
44 Robert Street West
Swift Current, Saskatchewan
S9H 4M9
Phone: 306-778-4815
Fax: 306-778-4818

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Simon Moore
Sent: November 8, 2017 9:24 AM
To: Sergio Montagud <Sergio.Montagud at uv.es>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] fatty dolphin

Hi Sergio,

This is interesting as I have seen mounted dolphin specimens, usually freshwater such as the Ganges dolphin, that have been suffering the same problem.  Is your specimen painted?  Any solvent action would require a repaint but this would be better than just leaving it.
I have not yet treated a specimen in this condition before so I will leave it there for the more experienced to reply.

With all good wishes, Simon.

Simon Moore MIScT, RSci, FLS, ACR
Conservator of Natural Sciences and Cutlery Historian,
www.natural-history-conservation.com<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.natural-2Dhistory-2Dconservation.com&d=DwMFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=oQkB4TFYfvbWaDqNBo4XnUrB-xar84Bk0sQ4_66cajY&s=QivxS44pUAuVywcToggmoN1qc3UPWdyqu2crVGhIjZY&e=>



On 8 Nov 2017, at 14:33, Sergio Montagud <Sergio.Montagud at uv.es<mailto:Sergio.Montagud at uv.es>> wrote:


Dear all,

We have a very old dolphin (maybe from the last years of the 19th century) with an important fat problem. We don't know the original color of the specimen (live dolphins of this species are blue-grey) but our specimen is now brown. The fat is problematic because the entire specimen is covered by it and it looks greasy and shiny for proper exposure. In addition, the grease falls on some parts of the wood below.

We don't have this problem in other specimens (maybe, because this is the only cetacean we have) and not know wha we can do. Someone could recommend some action to stop the fat proliferation?

I add some pictures of this special guy.

Thanks

Sergio


--
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Sergio Montagud Alario
Universitat de València
e-mail: sergio.montagud at uv.es<mailto:sergio.montagud at uv.es>
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Sergio Montagud Alario
Universitat de València
e-mail: sergio.montagud at uv.es<mailto:sergio.montagud at uv.es>
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