Ambergris is a wax-like substance that has long held value in the perfume industry thanks to its valor as a fixative. (That is, as an ingredient that enhances a given scent’s shelf life.) Enhancing the commercial value of ambergris is its incredible rarity. There is precisely one place on Earth where you can find ambergris: inside the digestive tract of a sperm whaleOpens in a new tab. So when someone happens upon some choice marine mammal vomit, they can rake in a considerable bounty. Case in point: the Yemeni fishing crew that just earned $1.5 million for the stuff.
We caught wind of the story by way of Yahoo! NewsOpens in a new tab. A 35-person fishing crew was surveilling the Gulf of Aden, which lives between nations Yemen, Djibouti, and Somalia, and neighbors the Arabian Sea. Per The India TimesOpens in a new tab, the crew disinterred an already-dead sperm whaleOpens in a new tab in the interest of finding a batch of ambergris.Lo and behold, the specimen rendered 280 pounds of the luxury waste product. As such, the crew reaped quite a fortune after piquing interest of an Emirati buyer. The India Times adds that the 35 crew members split the $1.5 million evenly, which is nice to hear.
Elianne DippOpens in a new tab
Though ambergris is associated with perfumery, it’s actually quite a pungent, noxious substance when first recovered. (Which should probably be of little surprise, given where it comes from.) Ambergris is said to first carry a fecal odor, but then evolve to more of a rubbing alcohol scent. Lovely stuff.
We should not that the tenor of the story would change significantly were the whale hunted specifically for the material; whaling is illegal in many parts of the world, and justly so. But the hunt and trade of whales persists, rendering many species—including the sperm whaleOpens in a new tab—vulnerable. You can find out more about whales and whaling, and contribute to the efforts to stop the decimation of whale species, at websites like Whale & Dolphin Conservation USAOpens in a new tab and the World Wildlife FundOpens in a new tab.
