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. 2022 Apr;240(4):669-677.
doi: 10.1111/joa.13581. Epub 2021 Nov 10.

Plastination of a sperm whale

Wen-Bin Jiang  1 , Jian Han  2 , Xue-Wei Ma  2 , Hu Liu  2 , Sheng-Bo Yu  1 , Hong-Jin Sui  1
Affiliations

Plastination of a sperm whale

Wen-Bin Jiang et al. J Anat. 2022 Apr.

Abstract

In 2016, two adult male sperm whales beached off of Yangkou Port in Nantong City, Jiangsu Province, China. The local government planned to preserve them as specimens, one was entrusted to Dalian Hoffen Biological Co., Ltd., and thus became the first sperm whale to be preserved by plastination. The other sperm whale was preserved in Nantong by the traditional stripping method (The skin was preserved, and then the prosthesis was filled into the skin to preserve the specimens. The material of the prosthesis was polyurethane. The outline of the animal was sculpted by suturing the skin like a bag and filling it with polyurethane). Plastination of such a large marine mammal allowed us to view the mutual adaptations of its internal structure to its specific living environment and daily habits. This sperm whale is the largest specimen in the world and this is the first time a sperm whale has been preserved using the plastination method. The plastination process also provides a method for studying the anatomy of large marine mammals for humans to understand deep-sea organisms at close contact and visual level. The plastination of this sperm whale promises to be a world class resource holding tremendous scientific, educational, and artistic value.

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Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Preservation techniques applied for transportation of the sperm whale. (a) cotton cloth soaked in formaldehyde. (b) plastic sheeting to prevent formaldehyde from evaporating. (c) the canvas was airtight
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Sperm whale before skinning
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
The sperm whale while being skinned
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
Length, widths, and thickness of a skin segment derived from the dorsal side of the neck of the sperm whale measuring 86, 52, and 17 cm, respectively
FIGURE 5
FIGURE 5
Head and neck segment of the sperm whale
FIGURE 6
FIGURE 6
Chest segment of the sperm whale
FIGURE 7
FIGURE 7
Waist segment of the sperm whale
FIGURE 8
FIGURE 8
Lumbar segment of the sperm whale including the caudal fins
FIGURE 9
FIGURE 9
Sperm whale being dissected. (a) sperm whale head muscles were separated. (b) sperm whale organs were separated. (c) sperm whale's heart, maximal diameter in the long axis = 115 cm. (d) sperm whale's stomach, maximal upper, and lower diameter = 23 cm
FIGURE 10
FIGURE 10
The internal support frame of the sperm whale. (a) holistic view. (b) right lateral view. (c) anterior view
FIGURE 11
FIGURE 11
Sperm whale in assembly. (a) pulley and fixation frames during assembly. (b) sperm whale was rearranged by professionals
FIGURE 12
FIGURE 12
The completely assembled sperm whale. Internal organs such as the heart, stomach, and kidney were assembled on the left side of the sperm whale, and the muscles of the sperm whale, such as the trapezius, were shown on the right side of the sperm whale
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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