Table 1.

Mean tensile test results for natural and decalcified (decalc.) wool fibres and sei, humpback and minke whale baleen bristles. (n = number of wool fibres or baleen bristles tested from each sample.)

	Es (MPa)	n	yield stress (MPa)	n	yield strain	n	breaking stress (MPa)	n	breaking strain	n
wool (N = 6)	1216	37	24	36	0.028	36	110	37	0.50	37
decalc. wool (N = 1)	1269	25	24	25	0.024	25	118	19	0.50	19
sei (N = 1)	1188	28	11	28	0.012	27	30a	24	0.35a	23
decalc. sei (N = 1)	637	29	6.7	24	0.014	24	18a	21	0.52a	21
humpback (N = 1)	1225	31	15	31	0.015	31	36	31	0.53	31
decalc. humpback (N = 1)	971	50	11	44	0.013	44	33	6	0.47	6
minke (N = 3)	652	33	7.1	26	0.014	26	27	21	0.47	21
decalc. minke (N = 2)	636	37	7.2	32	0.014	32	26	17	0.49	17

^aSamples for which failure data were highly variable owing to fraying of samples at high strains.