Flipper X-ray - When our sperm whale was fresh dead on the beach 5 years ago, Paul Nader cut off the left flipper and froze it with the idea that x-rays would help us make a more accurate display.  Meanwhile, I asked Mark Stevens of Beach Care East to X-ray my daughter Lindsey's arm as her bones are at approximately same stage of development as those of our sperm whale.  It makes for a good comparison as both species have similar arm/flipper bones and 5 digits.  Attached is a composite of all the X-rays, as well as the bones of the flipper we buried with the rest of the whale carcass. 

Bone degreasing - The1st batch of bones were processed in the vapor degreaser at the NCSU College of Veterinary Medicine.  The degreased bones are a bit lighter in color and significantly lighter in weight.  We weighed all the bones prior to degreasing and will do so again after degreasing.  The few bones we weighed so far indicate that the degreasing process decreased the weight of each bone by around 12%.  This will be helpful as we attempt to estimate the weight of the final skeletal display.  In addition to reducing the bone weight, degreasing kills bacteria, eliminates the bone odor, improves the performance of adhesives and resins used on the bones, improves the appearance of the display, and reduces the amount of dust that adheres to the bones over time.  After degreasing we'll soak the bones in a weak hydrogen peroxide solution to further kill bacteria, dissolve any remaining flesh, and make the bone color lighter and more uniform.