[Nhcoll-l] fatty dolphin

Thu Nov 9 05:39:09 EST 2017

Hi Sergio,

Iâ€™m presuming your specimen is quite an old one. Fats and oils can be difficult to adequately remove from skeletal material and skins in marine mammals and reptiles. It looks from the image that parts of the skeleton are still in place. These are particularly difficult to degrease (e.g. see https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.museum.nantes.fr_pages_21-5Factivitesscientifiques_TableRonde-5Fsquelettes-5Ffevrier2012_interventions-5Ffr-5Fang.html&d=DwIGaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=pXIAZI42PI-tUPVmqZmXPH3uBZeF_tVw-vQ9NSMZ-bc&s=TztQzftjaTH9-6l_X2F2p9iCMmN1uP5J7iH6Oz5Dlfg&e= and https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__onceinawhale.com_2013_07_02_we-2Dare-2Dnot-2Dalone-2Dand-2Dnot-2Dthe-2Dfirst_&d=DwIGaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=pXIAZI42PI-tUPVmqZmXPH3uBZeF_tVw-vQ9NSMZ-bc&s=2lLoizrlw8JRfNYcV9Eb2pjCvt1uzlOg3wHklyjuR2M&e= ). The fatty acid components will migrate out of the bone material and into the surface skin. As it will not now be possible to degrease the specimen it is probably now a case of regularly cleaning off the oily deposits as these will attract dirt, potentially attract insect pests and are likely to further degrade on exposure to air - thus potential â€˜acid burnâ€™ issues mentioned by Steve previously (if this occurs there is physical non reversible degradation of the skin). The â€˜once in a whaleâ€™ teams blog on cleaning whale bone (linked above) is a good overview of potential approaches for this depending on access to chemicals etc.

Hope that helps in some way

Jules

Prif Gadwraethydd, Gwyddorau Naturiol
Principal Conservator Natural Sciences
julian.carter at amgueddfacymru.ac.uk<mailto:julian.carter at amgueddfacymru.ac.uk>
julian.carter at museumwales.ac.uk<mailto:julian.carter at museumwales.ac.uk>
029 20573230
07870448074

From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Steve Halford
Sent: 08 November 2017 21:59
To: Sergio Montagud <Sergio.Montagud at uv.es>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] fatty dolphin

Hi Sergio,

This looks similar to "grease burn" seen in fatty bird skins.  An ornithology conservator may have some suggestions.  (My own experiences with grease burned specimens -- soaking and scrubbing with solvents --  were mostly unsatisfactory.)

Steve.

Steve Halford (halford at sfu.ca<mailto:halford at sfu.ca>)
Museum Technician (Retired)
Department of Biological Sciences
Simon Fraser University

On Wed, Nov 8, 2017 at 6:33 AM, 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

--
********************************
Sergio Montagud Alario
Universitat de ValÃ¨ncia
e-mail: sergio.montagud at uv.es<mailto:sergio.montagud at uv.es>
********************************
--
********************************
Sergio Montagud Alario
Universitat de ValÃ¨ncia
e-mail: sergio.montagud at uv.es<mailto:sergio.montagud at uv.es>
********************************

_______________________________________________
Nhcoll-l mailing list
Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:Nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
http://mailman.yale.edu/mailman/listinfo/nhcoll-l

_______________________________________________
NHCOLL-L is brought to you by the Society for the Preservation of
Natural History Collections (SPNHC), an international society whose
mission is to improve the preservation, conservation and management of
natural history collections to ensure their continuing value to
society. See https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=DwIGaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=pXIAZI42PI-tUPVmqZmXPH3uBZeF_tVw-vQ9NSMZ-bc&s=4Vi1bq6hcGuMxToA-omGIf9npuwIdoUS4ymFICd-TdA&e=<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.spnhc.org&d=DwMFaQ&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=L8d92iUAj2PDPZNSQLSSNPusAhkczZB0Mu5_GG3LZz0&s=Z0tc2kw6Qp6pIqc1svUfKcUJHNwdE97-TKvL58oEI8g&e=> for membership information.
Advertising on NH-COLL-L is inappropriate.

YMWADIAD
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg a Saesneg, ac yn sicrhau y byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn eich iaith ddewisol, boed yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu’r ddwy, dim ond i chi ein hysbysu. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn peri oedi.
Mae pob neges e-bost a anfonir at neu gan Amgueddfa Cymru yn cael ei 
sganio gan systemau diogelwch awtomatig. Sganiwyd y neges hon am firysau cyn ei hanfon, ond dylech hefyd wirio bod y neges, a phob atodiad ynddi, yn rhydd o firysau cyn ei defnyddio. Nid ydym yn derbyn cyfrifoldeb am unrhyw golled neu ddifrod o ganlyniad i agor y neges neu unrhyw atodiadau. Gall y neges hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau a atodir ynddi gynnwys gwybodaeth gyfrinachol a fwriadwyd ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig. Os ydych chi wedi derbyn y neges trwy gamgymeriad, hysbyswch ni a dileu’r neges. Safbwyntiau personol yr awdur a fynegir yn y neges hon, ac nid ydynt o reidrwydd yn cynrychioli safbwyntiau Amgueddfa Cymru. Nid ydym yn derbyn cyfrifoldeb am unrhyw wallau, llygredd neu esgeulustod a allai godi wrth drosglwyddo'r neges hon.

DISCLAIMER
We welcome correspondence in Welsh and English, and we will ensure that we communicate with you in the language of your choice, whether that’s English, Welsh or both if you let us know which you prefer. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to any delay.
E-mail to and from Amgueddfa Cymru is scanned by automated security systems. This message was scanned for viruses before transmission, but you should also satisfy yourself that the message, and all attachments, are virus-free before use. We can accept no responsibility for any loss or damage that might arise from opening the message or any attachments. This message and any files transmitted with it may contain confidential information intended only for the recipient. If you receive the message by mistake please inform us and delete it. The views expressed in this message are the personal views of the author and may not necessarily represent those of Amgueddfa Cymru. We accept no liability for any errors, corruption or omissions that might arise in transmission of this message.

--
 Scanned by FuseMail.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20171109/25c6ec82/attachment.html 