The milk will look like heavy cream (it can be up to 40 percent fat, whereas cow's milk is around 4 percent). Don't be alarmed if the color varies from pure white to slightly green. In July, the first Southern Resident killer whale calf to be born in almost three years died shortly after birth.
Donkey and horse milk have the lowest fat content, while the milk of seals contains more than 50% fat. Whale's milk, not used for human consumption, is one of the highest-fat milks.
Human milk, for instance, is a watery brew with just 3.8 percent fat and 1.2 percent protein. Compare that with the milk of a blue whale, which is 38.1 percent fat and 12.8 percent protein. Blue whale milk has the consistency of “loose, runny cheese” and smells like it was made in a Bass-O-Matic.
The texture of whale milk is similar to toothpaste.
This is why it is a member of the large family of mammals. The whale's milk has a concentration of 35 to 50% fat, which makes it very thick, like toothpaste! This consistency allows the milk to pass through water without disintegrating.
Fun Fact #2 Humpback whale milk is 50% fat and pink in color.
Hooded seals (Cystophora cristata)
Hooded seal mothers produce the fattiest known milk. Human breastmilk has about three to five percent fat in it. But with more than 60 percent fat, hooded seal milk would rival some of the richest Häagen-Dazs ice creams out there.
The milk will look like heavy cream (it can be up to 40 percent fat, whereas cow's milk is around 4 percent). Don't be alarmed if the color varies from pure white to slightly green.
Giraffe milk: Giraffe milk is rich in vitamin A & B12 and is said to treat diabetes, cholesterol and irritable bowel syndrome. Plant-based milk alternatives too are high in nutrients but may not share the same nutritional values as that of cow's milk.
For those of you who are wondering: Yes, porpoise milk is a real thing. Cetaceans nurse their young just like land mammals do. Unlike the exposed nipples of humans and our closer kin, the mammary glands of dolphins and porpoises are concealed inside of abdominal slits.
The latter plays an important role in, among other things, the Norwegian red whale cheese Konrad from Stavanger Ysteri, which was named the best Norwegian cheese during the NM in 2021.
Today, humans are the only species on earth that drink milk from another lactating species. But over the past few years, whether we should continue drinking milk into adulthood, or not for reasons such as it is not ethical to exploit cows for their milk, has become a hot topic of debate.
The need for milk is an essential part of the development of any young mammal, and being aquatic makes breastfeeding considerably harder. Nursing their young with milk is one of the things that defines mammals, so whales definitely do have mammary glands and they do produce milk.
A nursing blue whale mother produces over 50 gallons of milk a day. The milk is about 35 to 50 percent milk fat, which allows the calf to gain weight at a rate of up to 10 pounds an hour, which amounts to over 250 pounds a day! Calves stay with their mothers for about six to seven months.
Raki -- otherwise known as Lion's Milk -- is the Turkish national drink. Made of twice-distilled grapes and aniseed, raki is the go-to spirit for a celebration. It's good etiquette to clink the bottoms of your glasses when toasting with raki.
Whales are particularly vulnerable to environmental contaminants, including organochlorines—such as polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) and dioxin—and heavy metals, such as methylmercury.
What does whale taste like? It's similar to reindeer or moose. Whale tastes much more like its hairy cousins on land than its gilled neighbors in the sea. In places where gamey meats are common—like Norway, Iceland, and among the indigenous people of Alaska—whale is served straight up with little or no seasoning.
As anthropologists Katie Hinde and Lauren Milligan it turns out that plains zebra produce very similar milk, with 2.2% fat, 1.6% protein, 7% lactose, and 89% water. Human and zebra milk are both characterized by high water content and low energy density, with more of that energy coming from lactose than from fat.
WHY GRIZZLY MILK? Bear milk is the most nutrient-rich milk in the animal kingdom. It also happens to be absolutely delicious, offering a rich, nutty, and satisfying taste.
Only the male emperor penguin, which incubates a single egg that the female lays, can produce milk. Since these birds live in Antarctica and flamingos are found south of here, only a few local birds can claim milk-making skills.
Similarly, the red kangaroo can produce two different kinds of milk, depending on the age of the young (Griffiths, McIntosh & Leckie, 1972). One gland can produce a fluid rich in protein for a neonate and the other “mature” milk for a young at foot (Griffiths, McIntosh & Leckie, 1972).
Thanks to its clinical tolerance, palatability and nutritional adequacy associated to the low levels of caseins and other proteins with high immunogenic power, donkey milk is particularly suitable for children suffering from cow's milk protein allergy (CMPA).
Unique aspects of elephant milk have been described, including small sized and highly saturated lipid globules [21,22], and the presence of elevated concentrations of lactose-derived oligosaccharides [23], as well as high levels of glucosamine [24].
Like other cetaceans, sperm whale babies rely on their mother's milk for sustenance in their first year or two. And also like other cetaceans, a sperm whale mama's nipple is inverted—it doesn't stick out from her body like many mammals, but rather is hidden inside a mammary slit.
Killer whale milk is very rich in fat. The fat content of killer whale milk fluctuates as the calf develops. High-fat milk is an adaptation for calves to be able to quickly build a thick, insulating layer of blubber.
Sperm whales have inverted nipples so when the calf is ready to feed, they dive underneath their mother and nudge the mammary glands. Once stimulated, the mother's nipples emerge and milk is released into the water. The young calf then feeds on the milk directly from the water.