First the fins were boiled on a camp stove in a fish poacher for 5 hours.The poacher may not be used in the kitchen again. When the bones are clean and ready to use, Keith makes anatomically correct Bottlenose dolphin pectoral fin boards.
  Cooking the fins |
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| Fin resting on left edge of the poaching pan filled with fat |
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| The bones with flesh hanging on |
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| Lindsey digging out bones |
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| phalanges and carpals in jar |
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Lindsey is digging all the bones out of each fin
and searching through all the ‘goo’ for any errant bones. Having gloves on is essential or she could carry the smell for a very long time. The bones were then rinsed in Dawn, ammonia and boiling water multiple times. Keith (Lindsey had gone home) scrubbed each bone intensely with a wire brush and re-washed the bones several more times. The last photo shows the bones becoming cleaner and lighter in a mixture of 5% peroxide and water.
Cooking the fins
