Good week to avoid whale burgers

[Baldrake]

For all you whale meat eaters:

It's full of mercury and PCBs.

[Samprimary]

I pretty much think that any week is a good week to avoid whale burgers.

[Nevermore]

Fact: eating polar bear liver can kill you due to vitamin A poisoning.

[Nebu]

I teach mercury, arsenic, lead, iron, and selenium toxicology.  This will make for some topical discussion.  Thanks for the link!

[Sky]

Why is there more mercury in the ocean, or at least more contaminating the fish? I've been wondering about that but too lazy to look it up ;)

[Oban]

Great lawsuit :  http://www.consumerfreedom.com/news_detail.cfm/headline/3033

But here is one of the articles referenced:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031205053316.htm

... "The question is not where mercury is coming from, but where methylmercury is coming from," Morel says. Mercury concentrations in the air are of little concern, but when mercury enters water, microorganisms transform it to a highly toxic form methylmercury that builds up in fish.

Unfortunately, scientists are not yet able to measure methylmercury in ocean surface waters, so Morel and his coworkers approached the problem from a different angle. They measured methylmercury levels in yellowfin tuna caught off the coast of Hawaii in 1998 and compared the numbers to a similar study from the same area in 1971.

They found no change in methylmercury levels in the tuna over that 27-year period.

The researchers predicted that mercury in the surface waters should have increased by up to 26 percent during this time, according to a computer model. The model took account of the change in atmospheric mercury, the sub-equatorial Pacific waters and the potential for mixing in the"thermocline" a transition layer in the ocean where temperature changes rapidly.

The findings imply that the high levels of methylmercury in these fish are not coming from increased pollution, but from a natural source. The specific source is not yet clear, Morel says, but he suggests it could be hydrothermal vents and deep ocean sediments...

[Nebu]

Why is there more mercury in the ocean, or at least more contaminating the fish? I've been wondering about that but too lazy to look it up ;)

I don't think that there is, but organic mercury is very fat soluble (accounting for its CNS toxicity) and will concentrate in the fat stores of mammals and fish.  I'm no whale expert, but I imagine the whales eat tons of stuff that is near industrial waste streams and fat store it.  What surprises me is that the whales aren't dying from the ingestion as their CNS should be as susceptible to the effects as our own.  Perhaps it's a concentration phenomenon... big animal can tolerate much more material.

[Gutboy Barrelhouse]

How could have researchers predicted something that turned out to be wrong? Wow.

[schild]

Great. Now I have to throw out 7,200 lbs of meat.

[Nebu]

How could have researchers predicted something that turned out to be wrong? Wow.

I'm a researcher and have a sign on my office door that answers your exact question.  It reads:  If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be called "research". 

[Oban]

Great. Now I have to throw out 7,200 lbs of meat.

Ha!

Can I interest you in some dynamite?

[Big Gulp]

Great. Now I have to throw out 7,200 lbs of meat.

I can attest to this, I've seen his collection of freezers.

I just thought that he was either a serial killer or mobbed up.  Storing whale meat, though?  You sir, are worse than Hitler.

[Nebu]

I hear that fresh whale meat tastes a lot like bald eagle or whooping crane. 

[Oban]

I hear that fresh whale meat tastes a lot like bald eagle or whooping crane. 

Lies, it tastes like freshly clubbed baby seal.

Also, grats on 3000.

[Vedi]

I hear that fresh whale meat tastes a lot like bald eagle or whooping crane. 

No, it's actually more like ox meat, but a bit darker, and if it's not fresh it can develop some tangy, fish-oil taste. Bald eagle, although dark, is stringy and not so good. It's more similar to cat than whale, possibly because both eat rats (which is better than both). I have a theory that meat from animals that are too high on the food chain isn't particularly nice. Most whales feed on plankton though, so that's all good.

[Oban]

...Bald eagle, although dark, is stringy and not so good. It's more similar to cat than whale, possibly because both eat rats (which is better than both).
...

Please tell me that you are a Native American/Canadian.

[hal]

Those are fish eagles. Was the rat swimming? I want to know more about this rat that was pretending to be a fish.

[CmdrSlack]

...Bald eagle, although dark, is stringy and not so good. It's more similar to cat than whale, possibly because both eat rats (which is better than both).
...

Please tell me that you are a Native American/Canadian.

Knowing Vedi, I think you've been artfully fished in.

[bhodi]

Can I interest you in some dynamite?

... and the blast blasted blubber beyond all believable bounds.

[Sky]

If I knew what I was doing, it wouldn't be called "research". 

Ah, I have to make a sign like that for my next research project!

"Why isn't it done yet?" "Well, I'm researching things."
"When will you be done researching?" "When I've learned what I need to learn."
"When will that be?"

That's when I get scary quiet and glare, making the administrator uncomfortable so they change the subject. I find it beats ripping their head off and throwing it out the window. I rage against artificial deadlines and fabricated stress.

[Vedi]

Those are fish eagles. Was the rat swimming? I want to know more about this rat that was pretending to be a fish.

You caught me there. What I had was more of a normal eagle which we shaved. I assumed the taste would be similar. That said, rats are excellent swimmers and you can actually catch them if you let your fishing net protrude a few inches from the water. Two courses in one net!!

Please tell me that you are a Native American/Canadian.

No, I am not I'm afraid. Are there different rules for Candians and Native Americans regarding what meats are considered kosher? (Speaking of kosher, I wonder if kosher or halal whale is possible. Imagine having to drain their blood, what a mess!)
 

[cmlancas]

Why is there more mercury in the ocean, or at least more contaminating the fish? I've been wondering about that but too lazy to look it up ;)

I don't think that there is, but organic mercury is very fat soluble (accounting for its CNS toxicity) and will concentrate in the fat stores of mammals and fish.  I'm no whale expert, but I imagine the whales eat tons of stuff that is near industrial waste streams and fat store it.  What surprises me is that the whales aren't dying from the ingestion as their CNS should be as susceptible to the effects as our own.  Perhaps it's a concentration phenomenon... big animal can tolerate much more material.

I work retail where we routinely sell swordfish and tilefish and the literature I've been furnished with says something about fish that travel great distances in the oceans as having higher mercury than other localized fish.

Know anything about that? I'd like to know what the truth is from something that isn't my company, because I'm sure they wouldn't put out literature that says: "My GOD sir, you will in fact get mercury poisoning if you eat this more than twice a week!"