Huh? Carbon? Water? Salt? Plankton??? And milk if it's young enough.

Anyway...
Lots of photos in that link I posted a link to:
http://www.kujiraya.co.jp/dish/list.html
Click on the images for more

Answers a lot of your questions (especially about colour - which will vary depending on what part of the animal is used, most will be a deep red, the skin/blubber will be white. I know Narwhal skin is rich in vitamin C, I have no idea about other whales, the only interest I have in this is tied up with learning about the traditional diet of the Inuit and other Northern peoples. If anyone knows why the traditional knives of the Inuit to slice mammal flesh are the same shape as the plectrums used to play the Biwa/Koto I'd love to hear from you!)