Editing Marine mammal (section)

===As food===
{{Main|Marine mammals as food|Whale meat|Seal meat}}
[[File:Tvost og spik.jpg|thumb|[[Pilot whale]] meat (bottom), blubber (middle) and dried fish (left) with potatoes, [[Faroe Islands]]|alt=The whale meat is dark purple and shredded like jerky, the blubber is a pale-pink color and in slices, the dried fish is a light-brown color and ripped into slices, and the potatoes are light-yellow and cut into thin slices.]]
For thousands of years, [[Circumpolar peoples|indigenous peoples of the Arctic]] have depended on [[whale meat]] and [[seal meat]]. The meat is harvested from legal, non-commercial hunts that occur twice a year in the spring and autumn. The meat is stored and eaten throughout the winter.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-10549107 |title=Native Alaskans say oil drilling threatens way of life |work=BBC News |date=July 2010 |access-date=18 June 2016}}</ref> The skin and blubber ([[muktuk]]) taken from the [[bowhead whale|bowhead]], beluga, or narwhal is also valued, and is eaten raw or cooked. Whaling has also been practiced in the [[Faroe Islands]] in the North Atlantic since about the time of the first [[Vikings|Norse]] settlements on the islands. Around 1,000 [[long-finned pilot whale]]s are still killed annually, mainly during the summer.<ref name="contaminated">{{cite news|last=Nguyen|first=Vi|title=Warning over contaminated whale meat as Faroe Islands' killing continues|url=http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/687202/warning_over_contaminated_whale_meat_as_faroe_islands_killing_continues.html|newspaper=The Ecologist|date=26 November 2010|access-date=18 June 2016|archive-date=30 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170830215741/http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_round_up/687202/warning_over_contaminated_whale_meat_as_faroe_islands_killing_continues.html|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/140911-faroe-island-pilot-whale-hunt-animals-ocean-science/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140913205633/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/09/140911-faroe-island-pilot-whale-hunt-animals-ocean-science|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 13, 2014|title=Faroe Island Whaling, a 1,000-Year Tradition, Comes Under Renewed Fire|last=Lee|first=Jane J.|date= September 2014|magazine=National Geographic|access-date=18 June 2016}}</ref> Today, dolphin meat is consumed in a small number of countries worldwide, which include Japan<ref name=taiji/><ref name=toxicmeat>{{cite news|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2007/08/01/environment/taiji-officials-dolphin-meat-toxic-waste/#.V21wprgrKUk|last= Harnell|first=Boyd|year=2007|title=Taiji officials: Dolphin meat 'toxic waste'|newspaper=The Japan Times|access-date=24 June 2016}}</ref> and Peru (where it is referred to as ''chancho marino'', or "sea pork").<ref name=seapork>{{Cite news |url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Dolphin+meat+widely+available+in+Peruvian+stores+Despite+protected...-a0102897976 |last=Hall |first=Kevin G. |title=Dolphin meat widely available in Peruvian stores: Despite protected status, 'sea pork' is popular fare |newspaper=The Seattle Times |year=2003|access-date=18 June 2016}} {{dead link|date=January 2017 |fix-attempted=yes}}</ref> In some parts of the world, such as [[Taiji, Wakayama|Taiji (in Japan)]] and the Faroe Islands, dolphins are traditionally considered food, and are killed in [[harpoon]] or [[dolphin drive hunting|drive hunts]].<ref name=taiji>{{cite news|last=Matsutani|first=Minoru|url=http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f1.html|title=Details on how Japan's dolphin catches work|newspaper=Japan Times|date=September 23, 2009|page=3|access-date=June 18, 2016|archive-date=September 27, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090927022232/http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20090923f1.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

There have been human health concerns associated with the consumption of dolphin meat in Japan after tests showed that dolphin meat contained high levels of [[methylmercury]].<ref name=toxicmeat/><ref name=WHO/> There are no known cases of [[mercury poisoning]] as a result of consuming dolphin meat, though the government continues to monitor people in areas where dolphin meat consumption is high. The Japanese government recommends that children and pregnant women avoid eating dolphin meat on a regular basis.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mhlw.go.jp/topics/2003/06/tp0605-1.html|title=平成１５年６月３日に公表した「水銀を含有する魚介類等の 摂食に関する注意事項」について|last=Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare|website=Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare|language=ja}}</ref> Similar concerns exist with the consumption of dolphin meat in the Faroe Islands, where [[Prenatal development|prenatal]] exposure to methylmercury and [[Polychlorinated biphenyl|PCBs]] primarily from the consumption of pilot whale meat has resulted in [[Neuropsychology|neuropsychological]] deficits amongst children.<ref name=WHO>{{cite web|last= World Health Organization|author-link= World Health Organization|year= 2008 |title= Guidance for identifying populations at risk from mercury exposure|page= 36 |url=https://www.who.int/foodsafety/publications/chem/mercuryexposure.pdf |access-date= 29 August 2013}}</ref>

{{Blockquote|quote=The Faroe Islands population was exposed to methylmercury largely from contaminated pilot whale meat, which contained very high levels of about 2 mg methylmercury/kg. However, the Faroe Islands populations also eat significant amounts of fish. The study of about 900 Faroese children showed that prenatal exposure to methylmercury resulted in neuropsychological deficits at 7 years of age|source=[[World Health Organization]]<ref name=WHO/>}}

Ringed seals were once the main food staple for the [[Inuit]]. They are still an important food source for the people of [[Nunavut]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://inuitarteskimoart.com/artists/About-Seals.html |title=Eskimo Art, Inuit Art, Canadian Native Artwork, Canadian Aboriginal Artwork |publisher=Inuitarteskimoart.com |access-date=7 May 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130530223528/http://inuitarteskimoart.com/artists/About-Seals.html |archive-date=2013-05-30 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and are also hunted and eaten in Alaska. [[Seal meat]] is an important source of food for residents of small coastal communities.<ref>{{cite book|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=xUlpBAAAQBAJ|page=358}}|first=F. R.|last=Kets de Vries|year=2014|title=Talking to the Shaman Within Musings on Hunting|publisher= iUniverse Inc.|page=358|isbn=978-1-4917-3034-8|oclc=881660311}}{{self-published source|date=February 2020}}</ref>{{self-published inline|date=February 2020}} The seal blubber is used to make [[seal oil]], which is marketed as a [[fish oil]] supplement. In 2001, two percent of Canada's raw seal oil was processed and sold in Canadian health stores.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fkd/dok/rapporter_planer/Rapporter/2001/Strategier-og-tiltak-for-utvikling-av-en-lonnsom-selnaring/5.html?id=277391|title=5 Forslag til tiltak|language=no|publisher=Government of Norway|access-date=18 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080416225312/http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/fkd/dok/rapporter_planer/Rapporter/2001/Strategier-og-tiltak-for-utvikling-av-en-lonnsom-selnaring/5.html?id=277391|archive-date=16 April 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref>