 Towed to shore, it was cut up by the village and shared according to how much everyone contributed to the hunt, but the entire village all got some.Whale bones were used to frame shelters and boat rafters due to their strength and durability.The gray whale was initially not much sought after due to its smaller size and meat – which rotted far faster in the Arctic climate than the bowhead whale meat did – but this would all change with its modernization in Soviet times.