The whale meat has been eaten by the Inupiat people for ages. The whale meat skin is parboiled and then cut in fingers, including a thick piece of fat. This whale meat preparation is known locally as Muktuk, and it has a mild, almost nutlike flavour. The Inupiat people are traditional whale and sea mammals hunters, and whale meat is their staple.
Category: whales
Spermaciti, or sperm oil, the whale white substance for cosmetics and candles
The use of whale fat, also known as “spermaceti,” in cosmetics and other products is very popular in many countries. Spermaciti can be used for ingredient in cosmetics such as:
- face creams,
- lotions,
- lip balms, very effective in healing a wounds and other illnesses
Properties of spermaciti
The benefits of spermaciti include moisturizing and emollients properties. Because of such properties, the sperm whale oil is very effective in healing wounds and other illnesses.
Extraction of whale sperm oil
In the Philippines and other regions of Asia Pacifit, the extraction of whale sperm oil is still done in a traditional way by poor families as shown in the video:
The ban of use of spermaciti for cosmetics and candles
The use of spermaciti for cosmetics and candles has been banned in most of the countries for several decades due to conservation concerns and the protection of endangered species.
In the past,However, with the advent of synthetic ingredients and more sustainable sources of plant-based oils, the use of animal-derived fats and oils in cosmetics has declined significantly.
Today, most cosmetics are made with plant-based or synthetic ingredients, and the use of animal-derived ingredients is generally limited to those that are by-products of the meat industry or sustainably sourced, such as beeswax and lanolin.