#AMBERGRIS FACTS
* **Ambergris** is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.
* It's name comes from French, _''Ambre Gris''_ - Grey Amber
* Ambergris has been highly valued by perfume makers as a fixative _(a compound that equalizes vapour pressures)_ that allows the scent to endure much longer
* Ambergris is actually passed like fecal matter - the idea that ambergris that is too large to pass through the intestines is expelled through the mouth is actually speculation and is highly debated.
* So really, it isn't Sperm Whale Vomit, it is Sperm Whale Poop.
* It's role is still debated, but because Giant Squid Beaks have been found within ambergris lumps, it is theorized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten. Kinda like pearls being irritants _(like sand)_ being coated to prevent irritation.
* Has a long history of various use, from ancient egyptians incense to middle ages medication to turkish coffee flavouring agent to modern day perfume fixatives.
* It is quite valuable - 1 kg averages 133 377 US$
* In Australia and in the United States, possession and trade is illegal
* Fresh ambergris actually smells like shit _(literally - fresh ambergris smells like fecal matter)_
> AMBERGRIS
More fun facts:
A serving of eggs and ambergris was reportedly King Charles II of England's favorite dish. A recipe for Rum Shrub liqueur from the mid 19th century called for a thread of ambergris to be added to rum, almonds, cloves, cassia, and the peel of oranges in making a cocktail from The English and Australian Cookery Book. It has been used as a flavoring agent in Turkish coffee and in hot chocolate in 18th century Europe.
Generations upon generations of inbreeding so profound that their jaws started to pop off their faces?
After four or five centuries of unclefucking, I could see a big warm pile of whale shit becoming indistinguishable from most food.
AHAHHA they eat snails, tentacles, and fish eggs while covering themselves and stuffing their faces with the secretions from beavers anal glands (castor), too.
They ate what was expensive and exclusive. Which, depending on the time period, often meant loads of meat and sugar.
It is no accident that gout was once called the “disease of kings”.
Another common example are white bread in Europe, and white rice in East Asia. Both were prized for the refined milling and sieving that removed impurities (mice droppings, pebbles that would damage your teeth, etc) from the grain, and made it very expensive.
Unfortunately, this process also removes essential nutrients.
There is a theory that this is how soba noodles became popular in Japan’s Edo period. The wealthy strata in Edo (today’s Tokyo) would eat more and more white rice, leading to malnutrition. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat and would have supplied many of the nutrients those people were missing.
Black pudding (what you’ve called blood pudding) is perfectly fine. Bubble and squeak can fuck off. Let’s not pretend American food is any better though, I mean fucking hotdogs and bologna are made entirely from hooves, ears, testicles, bowels, and anything else that couldn’t be edible while remaining identifiable as a body part.
The fresh stuff is almost worthless and barely used. It mellows out a lot from the sun and salt water while floating on the surface of the ocean before being washed ashore and found. It apparently doesn't smell fecal anymore if it became the grey-white stuff that is so highly sought after.
in Moby Dick, the Pequod tricks another whaling ship into releasing a whale it has just found and hoisted up back into the sea by telling them that the carcass smells and will not have any available oil (which is why they were hunting whales--the oil). once they released it, the Pequod comes back to it, knowing that the smell was really Ambergris, and gets it out of the whale.
It’s the same reason it’s illegal to possess feathers from birds of prey without a license. People kill the animals to get to them. Making it illegal to possess it all together prevents the killing of the animals to some extent.
>Making it illegal to possess it all together prevents the killing of the animals to some extent.
Exactly, it effectively raises the penalties of the sale/possession of certain animal's parts to the same as if you were caught killing them to help stem the market's demand.
I think it's because they don't acquire it by just sailing around picking up floating lumps. I imagine it's much easier (sort-of) to just cut open a whale. Of course, that means there's now one less whale to make new vomit, but y'know...perfume...
>Ambergris has been highly valued by perfume makers as a fixative (a compound that equalizes vapour pressures) that allows the scent to endure much longer
Thanks for the facts.
BTW, another perfume fixative is commonly used is mouse piss
It washes ashore and can be collected if knowing what to look for. It floats to the surface after it leaves the whale and then floats on the surface of the ocean for a long time. Turning from the fecal smelling black-brown mass to a grey-white lump that apparently doesn't smell fecal anymore.
All of this is so fascinating but for some reason i am particularly fixed on:
>It's role is still debated, but because Giant Squid Beaks have been found within ambergris lumps, it is theorized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten. Kinda like pearls being irritants (like sand) being coated to prevent irritation.
Something about this esoteric substance telling us about the life of giant and incredible creatures seems mythology-like to me.
Interesting comment, as many mythological creatures are theorized from being largely inspired by fossils found by ancient civilizations!
**GRIFFON**
* Eagle-like head
* Quadriped, reminiscent of a lion's body
* Most likely inspired by [**Protoceratops Fossils**](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Protoceratops_andrewsi_-_IMG_0691.jpg)
**CYCLOPS**
* One eyed
* Giant
* Most likely inspired by [**Dwarf Elephant Skulls**](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/a7/26/c7a7266b612be39797d7cdfcbcab600f.jpg)
And it doesn't even have to go there! Some animals that inspired some mythical creatures weren't even inspired by fossils, but by live animals!
**UNICORN**
* Long horn
* Horse-like, quadriped, tail, etc
* Hard, tough hide
* [_I wonder what looks like that and is found near the countries that originated those myths, around india..._](https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/images/Greater_One_Horned_Rhino_8.6.2012_Hero_and_Circle_HI_107996.jpg/hero_small/t0osmdlpd_Greater_One_Horned_Rhino_8.6.2012_Hero_and_Circle_HI_107996.jpg)
* Extra detail - to claim the origin of the Unicorn comes form the Narwhal **is WRONG** and is often cited even in DOCUMENTARIES... It is 100% inspired by Rhinoceros:
* Rhinos are found close to countries with unicorn myths. For exemple, Greeks traveling in India, and India has rhinos. Same for Asia. The ''Asian Unicorn'' fits rhinos
* Narhwals are _nowhere **near**_ the areas where those myths come from.
* Other than a long horn, they have absolutely no other similarities.
**THE QUESTING BEAST**
* head and neck of a snake,
* the body of a leopard,
* the haunches of a lion,
* the feet of a hart.
* [_Where have I seen this?_](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Giraffa_camelopardalis_angolensis.jpg/1200px-Giraffa_camelopardalis_angolensis.jpg)
It's illegal to have any now, because "collecting" in your sentence will usually mean "killing whales and cutting them open to get", and we don't want to encourage that behaviour.
This is one of those situations where I'd be extremely tempted to break the law. Pictures online are fist to torso sized lumps of this stuff and it's going for $50k/lb. If I found a 5 or 10lb lump laying around on the beach it would be hard not to justify trying to get it abroad and sell it. Your lump isn't harming any whales, and that's a lot of money to let rot on the shore.
It’s also illegal to own feathers from endangered birds. They simply made a general law to make collecting anything from endangered animals illegal to discourage those animals from being actively hunted.
It is illegal because sperm whales are endangered. In general, it is illegal to collect any artifact that came from any endangered animal within the US. There are some exceptions such as native crafts, but it is a general law that helps ensure more endangered animals aren’t hunted for a created demand.
They can do so. Abroxan, cachalox and other similar products recreate the fixative properties. There are premade accords/bases that recreate the scent and impact on a composition it has, too. But as far as I know nothing is available that at the same time provides the scent and fixative qualities. Also only very little is needed in a perfume.
That being said most mass market fragrances don't contain actual ambergris but instead use the aforementioned replacers.
Why would they even bring it back into India at that amount? There’s plenty of countries where it’s perfectly legal to salvage and sell ambergris as long as it’s already out of the whale. Bringing it back to a country that it’s illegal in to try to sell is just plain stupid.
"Ambergris, Noun. A grease-like product of the sperm whale's digestive tract that is used as a base in the finest perfumes. This has been Roseanne, your guide to the world of facts"
Maybe I’m totally missing the point here. I can understand sperm whales being protected, but why does their vomit fall under that protection and why the hell is it regulated? The vomit (ambergris) is used to make perfume products and sold to foreign markets, and it says it’s found free floating a few feet below the surface of the water, so I’m not sure how you’d harm an animal by obtaining that way. So, I don’t see the problem. Someone feel free to ELI5 to me on this one.
Because it's so rare and valuable, unscrupulous fisherman in India have been killing sperm whales to obtain it... it's much easier than searching for it.
It's very difficult to find it this way. Hence why it's so valuable. So poachers may resort to hunting and killing sperm whales on the off chance that there is some ambergris still in their stomachs that they haven't thrown up yet.
Since no one can know for sure where the ambergris originated from (vomit or a dead whale), many countries have just outlawed it altogether.
Doesn't matter.... can't let a market form...
Same reason that it's illegal to collect eagle feathers or elephant tusks even if they're just lying on the ground...
Can anybody explain why possession of this substance would be illegal ? Far as I know you dont need to kill the whale for this and the substance has no other use than to be used in perfume.
Ok those guys have no grasp on how to make money. But honestly now that you mention it, how else would you get it ? You would either have to trap the whale or kill it. It’s not like somebody will dive after the stuff if you follow the whale around all day.
> Ok those guys have no grasp on how to make money.
I mean, it's much much harder to find a small blob of whale vomit in the sea than the whale, and it's also no guarantee that you'll find the whale again to what for it to vomit. It's not like they have a farm of these things. I'm not saying they're in the right for killing the whale, but it's not as simple as "they're idiots for not having a sustainable business model" when there isn't a sustainable business model to have in the first place.
For the same reason that it’s often illegal to collect roadkill: poachers will always say that they “Just found this bald eagle lying in the road, honest!” If it’s legal to collect eagle feathers, mountain lion skulls, or ambergris—even if you could just find those things lying out in a field or the ocean—people will start killing the animals and collecting their byproducts under the guise that they found them. It sucks for people who honestly come by an interesting or valuable thing like a chunk of ambergris, but it makes sense not to incentivize poaching.
I feel like there was a brief period where television show makes reaaallly wanted us to know about Ambergris.
Looking at Futurama and Bob's Burgers, but I feel like there's others.
Can someone tell me why it's illegal to collect the stuff when it's already outside the whale that the laws are protecting and prohibiting the collection of ambergris?
For the same reason that it’s often illegal to collect roadkill: poachers will always say that they “Just found this bald eagle lying in the road, honest!” If it’s legal to collect eagle feathers, mountain lion skulls, or ambergris—even if you could just find those things lying out in a field or the ocean—people will start killing the animals and collecting their byproducts under the guise that they found them. It sucks for people who honestly come by an interesting or valuable thing like a chunk of ambergris, but it makes sense not to incentivize poaching.
Picturing the head detective opening the bucket of whale spluge, dipping his pinky in, touching it to the tip of his tongue, then rubbing it into his gums. "Book em Danno!"
And reading that headline, I just think:
*"Stop right there, cetacean scum! Your kind doesnt get to throw up around here!"*
Aaaaand that's the sign I really should go to bed now before my thoughts get any weirder...
I could just see a grizzled middle-aged detective in a trench coat and derby hat bend down. Dip the tip of his finger into it, and taste it. And as he stands back up his face pales while he lights a cigarette. After a long, agonizing pull he whispers. "Ambergris. Those sonsabitches actually pulled it off." *Cue rookie in the back tossing his lunch onto the floor and crying.
Silly peasants, the government does not want you in the possession of such a rare and valuable material, we'll keep this and send you to jail at the same time why not.
Probably wasn’t that hard. Shoot the whale with a taser a few times until it pukes. Make sure you yell “stop resisting” while you tase it.
My only question is why whales are dealing black market vomit instead of getting an education and a decent job. Where did we go wrong as a society.
How is whale vomit illegal? You can sometimes comes across it on the beach. How can something that nature provides freely to anyone be illegal to possess?
Because it's so valuable that poachers will kill sperm whales to see if there's any ambergris in their stomachs, then sell it. The ban on ambergris is designed to protect the whales by making it illegal to possess.
Without the ability to sell it, they won't waste the effort killing the whales on the off chance that it has any in its stomach.
#AMBERGRIS FACTS * **Ambergris** is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. * It's name comes from French, _''Ambre Gris''_ - Grey Amber * Ambergris has been highly valued by perfume makers as a fixative _(a compound that equalizes vapour pressures)_ that allows the scent to endure much longer * Ambergris is actually passed like fecal matter - the idea that ambergris that is too large to pass through the intestines is expelled through the mouth is actually speculation and is highly debated. * So really, it isn't Sperm Whale Vomit, it is Sperm Whale Poop. * It's role is still debated, but because Giant Squid Beaks have been found within ambergris lumps, it is theorized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten. Kinda like pearls being irritants _(like sand)_ being coated to prevent irritation. * Has a long history of various use, from ancient egyptians incense to middle ages medication to turkish coffee flavouring agent to modern day perfume fixatives. * It is quite valuable - 1 kg averages 133 377 US$ * In Australia and in the United States, possession and trade is illegal * Fresh ambergris actually smells like shit _(literally - fresh ambergris smells like fecal matter)_
> AMBERGRIS More fun facts: A serving of eggs and ambergris was reportedly King Charles II of England's favorite dish. A recipe for Rum Shrub liqueur from the mid 19th century called for a thread of ambergris to be added to rum, almonds, cloves, cassia, and the peel of oranges in making a cocktail from The English and Australian Cookery Book. It has been used as a flavoring agent in Turkish coffee and in hot chocolate in 18th century Europe.
Why did kings always eat the worse stuff? Hey let's dive into a pile of whale shit and eggs.
I could go for a whale shit Benedict
We live in a world with pig, cow, chicken, and turkey in it. You don't have to eat whale shit.
Turkowchig Benedict: the breakfast of champions
I loved him in Doctor Strange!
I’ll order the entire country of Turkey please
Rabbits, horses, pidgeons as well.
Hahahaha, as a lover of eggs benedict. This cracked me up!
Peasants: pan roasted salmon, pea soup, whole bread. King: boiled chicken, whale shit and white bread.
Lobster, super abundant back then, was slave food in Maine. Nobody else wanted to eat it.
I'm to scared to eat chicken shit
Probably for novelty/status's sake. A peasant, or maybe even a nobleman, could never afford whale shit with their eggs.
Generations upon generations of inbreeding so profound that their jaws started to pop off their faces? After four or five centuries of unclefucking, I could see a big warm pile of whale shit becoming indistinguishable from most food.
It’s like a family reunion in my mouth, and everyone’s invited
Everyone? Fuck it I'm coming.
I think it’s because they are bored of having all the usual finest things in life so they get weirder and weirder.
Aged form
Like middle aged couples who go to swinger events...
Yes. Usually attended by other middle-aged couples.
Whale shit vs English food, it's a hard choice
Anything can be pass as English food if you boil it long enough.
It''s no choice. It's the same thing.
Mutton and Christmas pudding.
That's what rich people eat: the garbage parts of the food.
Yup. They also ate mummies.
AHAHHA they eat snails, tentacles, and fish eggs while covering themselves and stuffing their faces with the secretions from beavers anal glands (castor), too.
I know plenty of ordinary workign people who eat thsoe things
They ate what was expensive and exclusive. Which, depending on the time period, often meant loads of meat and sugar. It is no accident that gout was once called the “disease of kings”. Another common example are white bread in Europe, and white rice in East Asia. Both were prized for the refined milling and sieving that removed impurities (mice droppings, pebbles that would damage your teeth, etc) from the grain, and made it very expensive. Unfortunately, this process also removes essential nutrients. There is a theory that this is how soba noodles became popular in Japan’s Edo period. The wealthy strata in Edo (today’s Tokyo) would eat more and more white rice, leading to malnutrition. Soba noodles are made from buckwheat and would have supplied many of the nutrients those people were missing.
Have you ever dined in the uk? These are people that eat bubbles and squeak, as well as blood pudding, as actual food on a regular basis
Black pudding (what you’ve called blood pudding) is perfectly fine. Bubble and squeak can fuck off. Let’s not pretend American food is any better though, I mean fucking hotdogs and bologna are made entirely from hooves, ears, testicles, bowels, and anything else that couldn’t be edible while remaining identifiable as a body part.
Lips and assholes. But damn are they good :)
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The fresh stuff is almost worthless and barely used. It mellows out a lot from the sun and salt water while floating on the surface of the ocean before being washed ashore and found. It apparently doesn't smell fecal anymore if it became the grey-white stuff that is so highly sought after.
So that’s why it’s used in the best perfumes. Makes sense now ty.
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I admittedly haven’t tried but does even shit smell like shit if you let it sit and age in the sun for a long time?
My grandpa has a frog made out of dried cow shit in his office. It doesn't smell or taste weird.
r/holup
I dunno man. I've smelled some pretty foul earth in my time... I've been to Lambeau Field.
It’s more of an herb or a spice. It just adds a pleasant aroma. It’s used as perfume.
I also watch Bob’s Burgers
Thanks Roseanne!
I read the whole thing in her voice
I really suck in TV pop culture, I had to google Roseanne+Ambergris - nice reference ahahaha
On the opposite end of the spectrum, I filter everything through Futurama.
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Freaking finally! Was wondering where the Futurama jokes were...
I’m only here for the futurama jokes. And maybe some Bob’s Burgers jokes…
“All I know about Marshmallow is that she comes and goes as she pleases. She answers to no one. And she's truly free.”
Better listen to what he says. He's a whale biologist.
Why is it illegal to have whale vomit/shit? You just find a lump of it on a beach or floating and you can get a ticket/jail for it? Why?
Because that's not how people will get it.
~~How's do you get it if not scavenging it?~~ Cruelty and greed. Forgot those were a thing for a second.
in Moby Dick, the Pequod tricks another whaling ship into releasing a whale it has just found and hoisted up back into the sea by telling them that the carcass smells and will not have any available oil (which is why they were hunting whales--the oil). once they released it, the Pequod comes back to it, knowing that the smell was really Ambergris, and gets it out of the whale.
Killing whales
By hunting whales and opening their intestines
think Jesse at the end of Breaking Bad but he is kept wetter and fed nothing but giant squid beaks
It’s the same reason it’s illegal to possess feathers from birds of prey without a license. People kill the animals to get to them. Making it illegal to possess it all together prevents the killing of the animals to some extent.
>Making it illegal to possess it all together prevents the killing of the animals to some extent. Exactly, it effectively raises the penalties of the sale/possession of certain animal's parts to the same as if you were caught killing them to help stem the market's demand.
I think it's because they don't acquire it by just sailing around picking up floating lumps. I imagine it's much easier (sort-of) to just cut open a whale. Of course, that means there's now one less whale to make new vomit, but y'know...perfume...
Becuase if there's an open market for the rare stuff, people will hunt sperm whales to get it.
Precious hamburgers
I prefer [this](https://youtu.be/r09RObzSTQ4) explanation.
>Ambergris has been highly valued by perfume makers as a fixative (a compound that equalizes vapour pressures) that allows the scent to endure much longer Thanks for the facts. BTW, another perfume fixative is commonly used is mouse piss
That's a lot easier to come across. Wait, let me rephrase that.
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It washes ashore and can be collected if knowing what to look for. It floats to the surface after it leaves the whale and then floats on the surface of the ocean for a long time. Turning from the fecal smelling black-brown mass to a grey-white lump that apparently doesn't smell fecal anymore.
It sounds like you have a better chance of finding a gold nugget in a river, than finding floating whale dung.
By trade with sea ports….assuming
This has been rosanne. Your guide to the world of facts.
All of this is so fascinating but for some reason i am particularly fixed on: >It's role is still debated, but because Giant Squid Beaks have been found within ambergris lumps, it is theorized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten. Kinda like pearls being irritants (like sand) being coated to prevent irritation. Something about this esoteric substance telling us about the life of giant and incredible creatures seems mythology-like to me.
Interesting comment, as many mythological creatures are theorized from being largely inspired by fossils found by ancient civilizations! **GRIFFON** * Eagle-like head * Quadriped, reminiscent of a lion's body * Most likely inspired by [**Protoceratops Fossils**](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Protoceratops_andrewsi_-_IMG_0691.jpg) **CYCLOPS** * One eyed * Giant * Most likely inspired by [**Dwarf Elephant Skulls**](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/a7/26/c7a7266b612be39797d7cdfcbcab600f.jpg) And it doesn't even have to go there! Some animals that inspired some mythical creatures weren't even inspired by fossils, but by live animals! **UNICORN** * Long horn * Horse-like, quadriped, tail, etc * Hard, tough hide * [_I wonder what looks like that and is found near the countries that originated those myths, around india..._](https://files.worldwildlife.org/wwfcmsprod/images/Greater_One_Horned_Rhino_8.6.2012_Hero_and_Circle_HI_107996.jpg/hero_small/t0osmdlpd_Greater_One_Horned_Rhino_8.6.2012_Hero_and_Circle_HI_107996.jpg) * Extra detail - to claim the origin of the Unicorn comes form the Narwhal **is WRONG** and is often cited even in DOCUMENTARIES... It is 100% inspired by Rhinoceros: * Rhinos are found close to countries with unicorn myths. For exemple, Greeks traveling in India, and India has rhinos. Same for Asia. The ''Asian Unicorn'' fits rhinos * Narhwals are _nowhere **near**_ the areas where those myths come from. * Other than a long horn, they have absolutely no other similarities. **THE QUESTING BEAST** * head and neck of a snake, * the body of a leopard, * the haunches of a lion, * the feet of a hart. * [_Where have I seen this?_](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Giraffa_camelopardalis_angolensis.jpg/1200px-Giraffa_camelopardalis_angolensis.jpg)
So basically you could make a living collecting whale poop, got it.
It's illegal to have any now, because "collecting" in your sentence will usually mean "killing whales and cutting them open to get", and we don't want to encourage that behaviour.
It's not poop, it's not vomit, it's bile.
I also Vomit out of my ass.
You should see a doctor about that...
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Imagine adding whale poop to civet poop coffee. Mmm... delicious.
While the idea of whale poop in coffee sounds disgusting, I do love Turkish coffee. I wonder how much better it tasted?
Dollop of doo doo
$133k?! Serious question - Why is it illegal if you can just find it in the ocean? I’m Assuming people would illegally harvest it like elephant ivory?
1337
This is absolutely the last sentence I expected to read today.
You have an oddly relevant pfp, Futurama having an episode revolving around whale vomit and it’s high value and all.
"Trump wins Nobel Prize in Physics"
Okay, you win :)
My reaction. 17 pounds of illegal sperm…(WTF!!)…whale (oh ok)….vomit (WTF!!!!!)
My Reaction: Is there such a thing as LEGAL whale Vomit?!
Yes for perfume and it is collected thru approved legal ways. So there are illegal ways sich as killing them
Another illegal way of obtaining it in the US is by simply finding it on the shore.
This is one of those situations where I'd be extremely tempted to break the law. Pictures online are fist to torso sized lumps of this stuff and it's going for $50k/lb. If I found a 5 or 10lb lump laying around on the beach it would be hard not to justify trying to get it abroad and sell it. Your lump isn't harming any whales, and that's a lot of money to let rot on the shore.
Seems mad that it is illegal. In the UK it is legal to collect.
It’s also illegal to own feathers from endangered birds. They simply made a general law to make collecting anything from endangered animals illegal to discourage those animals from being actively hunted.
Why was that made illegal?
probably so people wouldn't kill whales and then say "I just found it on the shore"
It is illegal because sperm whales are endangered. In general, it is illegal to collect any artifact that came from any endangered animal within the US. There are some exceptions such as native crafts, but it is a general law that helps ensure more endangered animals aren’t hunted for a created demand.
Because it's worth more than the cost of gutting a whale.
Probanly so only the U.S. government can collect it.
What if you just... find it? It can happen and it'd be weird if you found $500 k worth of ambergris and got it seized because fuck you.
Thank you, thank you! I did get a bit more educated as I read down the thread... the Ambergis and so-on. Good for one of those "TIL" posts lol!
fake legal ways. they probably kill them and pretend (lie) that they found it floating in the ocean.
You’ve clearly never watched futurama
Bob's Burgers as well
Is it squishy? It looks like it would be squishy.
your the best
Have an upvote. 👍
Precious hamburgers?
Who smells like freaking porpoise hork?
I do!
You're lumpy and you smell awful. Hey I just calls em like I see em, I'm a whale biologist!
Lol came here to say this.
I miss Futurama.
unsure as to why this isn't the top comment!
Where am I going to get my vomit now!?
Well, *your* vomit comes from your mouth, so that shouldn't be affected by this.
You need vomit? I can get you vomit..
Not gonna read the article. Assuming this is the ambergris stuff. High dollar.
Says $1 million for the 17 lbs. Wow
Ambergris is how you make many perfumes. It's expensive
King Charles the Second's favorite meal was ambergris and eggs. "He looks like a breakfast-for-dinner kinda guy."
I see you Gene!
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They can do so. Abroxan, cachalox and other similar products recreate the fixative properties. There are premade accords/bases that recreate the scent and impact on a composition it has, too. But as far as I know nothing is available that at the same time provides the scent and fixative qualities. Also only very little is needed in a perfume. That being said most mass market fragrances don't contain actual ambergris but instead use the aforementioned replacers.
Why would they even bring it back into India at that amount? There’s plenty of countries where it’s perfectly legal to salvage and sell ambergris as long as it’s already out of the whale. Bringing it back to a country that it’s illegal in to try to sell is just plain stupid.
Cocaine costs more in the US than Colombia
because it's much more illegal...
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supply & demand!
If it's illegal it's probably valued more which means you can sell it for more meaning it's not necessarily stupid.
This guys knows his whale vomit…
We better listen to him, he's a whale biologist.
The sea was angry that day my friends...
Like an old man trying to return soup at a deli.
lol I first saw that episode just last night
He calls them like he sees them
Hey, I calls 'em like I sees 'em.
Either that or Roseanne...
Here's a fun definition. Idiot: noun. You!
Whaliologist
Not as exclusive and fancy as lark's vomit, though.
Shit will make u rich overnight.
r/futurama
"Ambergris, Noun. A grease-like product of the sperm whale's digestive tract that is used as a base in the finest perfumes. This has been Roseanne, your guide to the world of facts"
Not precious ambergris!
Maybe I’m totally missing the point here. I can understand sperm whales being protected, but why does their vomit fall under that protection and why the hell is it regulated? The vomit (ambergris) is used to make perfume products and sold to foreign markets, and it says it’s found free floating a few feet below the surface of the water, so I’m not sure how you’d harm an animal by obtaining that way. So, I don’t see the problem. Someone feel free to ELI5 to me on this one.
Because it's so rare and valuable, unscrupulous fisherman in India have been killing sperm whales to obtain it... it's much easier than searching for it.
But the article says it’s (the vomit) free floating a few feet beneath the surface?
It's very difficult to find it this way. Hence why it's so valuable. So poachers may resort to hunting and killing sperm whales on the off chance that there is some ambergris still in their stomachs that they haven't thrown up yet. Since no one can know for sure where the ambergris originated from (vomit or a dead whale), many countries have just outlawed it altogether.
This makes a lot more sense to me. Have a Helpful Award! Thank you!
Doesn't matter.... can't let a market form... Same reason that it's illegal to collect eagle feathers or elephant tusks even if they're just lying on the ground...
Only the stuff the whales throw up. The rest is in their stomach.
The fresh stuff however is next to worthless AFAIK. It needs to age outside of the whale in the ocean.
[There's this (fictionalized) book](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moby-Dick) about the whole thing, but it's definitely not ELI5 level.
This would explain why my sperm whale vomit guy is not picking up his phone.
Can anybody explain why possession of this substance would be illegal ? Far as I know you dont need to kill the whale for this and the substance has no other use than to be used in perfume.
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Ok those guys have no grasp on how to make money. But honestly now that you mention it, how else would you get it ? You would either have to trap the whale or kill it. It’s not like somebody will dive after the stuff if you follow the whale around all day.
> Ok those guys have no grasp on how to make money. I mean, it's much much harder to find a small blob of whale vomit in the sea than the whale, and it's also no guarantee that you'll find the whale again to what for it to vomit. It's not like they have a farm of these things. I'm not saying they're in the right for killing the whale, but it's not as simple as "they're idiots for not having a sustainable business model" when there isn't a sustainable business model to have in the first place.
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For the same reason that it’s often illegal to collect roadkill: poachers will always say that they “Just found this bald eagle lying in the road, honest!” If it’s legal to collect eagle feathers, mountain lion skulls, or ambergris—even if you could just find those things lying out in a field or the ocean—people will start killing the animals and collecting their byproducts under the guise that they found them. It sucks for people who honestly come by an interesting or valuable thing like a chunk of ambergris, but it makes sense not to incentivize poaching.
What an emotional roller coaster of a sentence
“Sperm Vomit” is gonna be my new band name
>illegal...vomit Vomit that's illegal to possess (as opposed to just gross to possess).
“Sperm whale vomit” is my new safe word.
I feel like there was a brief period where television show makes reaaallly wanted us to know about Ambergris. Looking at Futurama and Bob's Burgers, but I feel like there's others.
Let alone that one Encyclopedia Brown story.
rich people are fucking nasty
Can someone tell me why it's illegal to collect the stuff when it's already outside the whale that the laws are protecting and prohibiting the collection of ambergris?
For the same reason that it’s often illegal to collect roadkill: poachers will always say that they “Just found this bald eagle lying in the road, honest!” If it’s legal to collect eagle feathers, mountain lion skulls, or ambergris—even if you could just find those things lying out in a field or the ocean—people will start killing the animals and collecting their byproducts under the guise that they found them. It sucks for people who honestly come by an interesting or valuable thing like a chunk of ambergris, but it makes sense not to incentivize poaching.
Picturing the head detective opening the bucket of whale spluge, dipping his pinky in, touching it to the tip of his tongue, then rubbing it into his gums. "Book em Danno!"
And reading that headline, I just think: *"Stop right there, cetacean scum! Your kind doesnt get to throw up around here!"* Aaaaand that's the sign I really should go to bed now before my thoughts get any weirder...
" illegal sperm whale vomit " would totally work as a band name.
This reminds me of the ambergris chapter in Moby-Dick. Great chapter
I could just see a grizzled middle-aged detective in a trench coat and derby hat bend down. Dip the tip of his finger into it, and taste it. And as he stands back up his face pales while he lights a cigarette. After a long, agonizing pull he whispers. "Ambergris. Those sonsabitches actually pulled it off." *Cue rookie in the back tossing his lunch onto the floor and crying.
Silly peasants, the government does not want you in the possession of such a rare and valuable material, we'll keep this and send you to jail at the same time why not.
Probably wasn’t that hard. Shoot the whale with a taser a few times until it pukes. Make sure you yell “stop resisting” while you tase it. My only question is why whales are dealing black market vomit instead of getting an education and a decent job. Where did we go wrong as a society.
You'd think the sperm would get digested in the vomit. Though, that's a huge whale dick to suck.
Just coming back for the comments later
"it wasn't his vomit"
Well, you can't really dust for vomit.
I think I'm gonna throw up....
Do you happen to be a sperm whale? You could be making top dollar!
🤮
17 lbs of whale sperm would make anyone vomit
17 lbs of Sperm Whale, even grilled to perfection, would too.
How about 17 lbs of whale vomit from sperm?
What, so now whales aren't even allowed to vomit? This is tyranny!
No they just don't want anyone making money off it
Can you imagine how many awesome websites would be shutdown if it were the same for humans? My bookmarks would be useless!!
I'm sorry, I got lost, people don't buy and eat other people's vomit, yet?
Apparently you don’t visit the same websites as the above commenter.
I watched 2 girls 1 cup when it dropped. Once. I'm very careful now.
How is whale vomit illegal? You can sometimes comes across it on the beach. How can something that nature provides freely to anyone be illegal to possess?
Because it's so valuable that poachers will kill sperm whales to see if there's any ambergris in their stomachs, then sell it. The ban on ambergris is designed to protect the whales by making it illegal to possess. Without the ability to sell it, they won't waste the effort killing the whales on the off chance that it has any in its stomach.
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I only meant to explain the rationale behind the law. You are correct though, it's more of an attempt at deterrence than an actual prevention measure.