# What does Whale Milk taste like?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-whale-milk-taste-like/51474>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [January 23, 2001, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-whale-milk-taste-like/51474 "2001-01-23T23:08:47Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-whale-milk-taste-like/51474/21 "2001-01-25T00:32:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by S-Terry Dan \*  
> **Intriguing. It could taste like a milkshake for all we know, but the logistics of it are extremely difficult.**

You ain’t whistling dixie. You’d have to take her to dinner three or four times first at least. They get real uppity if you try to feel the goodies too soon.

\*\*

> [@](#):
>
> …actually, it’d probably be easier if you’re willing to settle for orca. Good luck finding a lactating whale in the wild.  
> \*\*

Keep in mind Orca is a carnivore. Milk would probably taste different than a omivorous kelp scarfing baleen whale like a blue.

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**Author:** ![Sue\_Duhnym](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/91b2a8/32.png) [@Sue\_Duhnym](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sue_Duhnym)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-whale-milk-taste-like/51474/22 "2001-01-25T03:12:52Z")

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I don’t think that cow’s milk tastes particularly grassy or haylike.

Human milk tastes kinda like cow’s milk, only sweeter.

Though here: [http://www.nationalgeographic.com/world/9803/whale/](http://www.nationalgeographic.com/world/9803/whale/) it says:

> [@](#):
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> Rescuers trucked the baby whale, named J.J., to a pool at Sea World in San Diego. The whale needed food—fast. Experts mixed a special formula of heavy cream, powdered milk, and minced fish. Within a month, J.J. gained a whopping 900 pounds (408 kilograms).

So maybe, whale milk tastes fishy after all.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-whale-milk-taste-like/51474/23 "2001-01-25T21:49:26Z")

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> [@](#):
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> \*Originally posted by Sue Duhnym \*  
> **I don’t think that cow’s milk tastes particularly grassy or haylike.**

You’re used to store milk which comes from cows that eat processed feed. Cows that graze have very different tasting milk, and yes it’s “grassy.” The worst is when the cows eat wilds onions \<shudder/gag/wretch\>

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**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\
**Post date:** [January 25, 2001, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-whale-milk-taste-like/51474/24 "2001-01-25T22:17:57Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by oldscratch \*  
> \*\*I was thinking that spoke-
> 
> but I also thought, most whales eat plankton. How does plankton taste? does it taste fishy?\*\*

I’m sort of assuming that plankton is fishy, since it consists (at least in part) of the larvae and fry of larger sea creatures. I figure that if these various critters taste fishy as adults, they taste fishy as plankton.

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