Contents of the second stomach of s sperm whale collected off Hokkaido. (Photo by T. Tamura, Research Institute of Cetacea)

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The stomach is usually cut open form cardia to pylorus for removal of stomach contents. Before transferring contents to a tray, you should observe the degree of digestion and the packing condition from the cardia to pylorus. Several layers of different degrees of digestion are sometimes recognizable., indicating that feeding occurreds in intervals. In this case, you would do better to examine contents in each layer independently. Pay close attention to small otoliths and beaks that are often hidene between the abomas.

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