In elementary school, I learned that ambergris is produced by whales and is used in the manufacturing of perfume. I guess I thought it was rendered from blubber or squeezed out of a gland. Who knew that whales either regurgitate it or poop it out? It smells like BM, too! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris
I got the full story on ambergris yesterday when I read about Ken Wilman. Mr. Wilman was walking his dog on a beach in England. The dog stopped to investigate a really foul smelling object. Wilman and the dog left the rank clump in the sand and went home. He must have more whale savvy than most of us because he began to think there was something important about the dog's malodorous find. He went back to retreive the fetid blob. Sure enough, it turned out to be a seven pound chunk of ambergris worth $50,000.00.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/sideshow/man-finds-valuable-whale-vomit-english-beach-165619292.html
Talk about stepping in excrement!
Gee, like you, I never knew it was in whale poop. I always thought the whalers slit the belly open and that's as far as I thought about it. Forget the metal detectors, get a big pooper scooper!
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