🥛 Whale milk

Whale milk is one of the fattiest in nature. According to SeaWorld, in baleen whales it can contain up to 40–50% fat; its consistency is compared to a thick paste.

A whale calf suckles right under water: the female’s teats are hidden in slit-like folds on her belly. The mother is thought to eject the milk herself so that it mixes less with the water. Thanks to the rich milk, calves grow very fast: according to SeaWorld, a nursing blue whale calf gains about 90 kg a day, and grey whales double their weight in about three months. Nursing in baleen whales lasts roughly 4–11 months.

Whale milk versus cow’s milk: both are mammal milk, but they are not alike. In baleen whales it holds roughly ten times as much fat as cow’s milk, and its consistency is compared to a thick paste, so it is nothing like the drinking milk in a carton. Cow’s milk is collected on farms and handled at a dairy, whereas a calf drinks its mother’s milk right under the water. The mother whale barely eats while nursing and lives off stored fat.

You will not find whale milk on any shelf: humans do not use it, so neither a supermarket dairy aisle, a health food shop nor a farm shop sells it. A pack called “whale milk” would be a novelty name or a joke, not a genuine dairy product. For ordinary milk, read the product name and the label, which should say which animal the milk comes from, and compare it with what you are really buying.

Like true seals, many baleen whales barely eat while nursing: the females give birth in warm but food-poor waters and live off stored fat, feeding in cold, productive areas. Humans do not use whale milk, and direct measurements of its composition in large whales are rare, so many figures are generalised.