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The Vomit Worth Millions?
ozmanjusri writes "ABC is reporting that a family in Australia recently found a large lump of ambergris, which they believe may be worth millions. It is a fascinating material, created by a sperm whale's intestine in response to irritation, probably caused by the undigested beaks of squid. The waxy mass is coughed out by the whale during a belch which is reported to be audible kilometers away, and is a putrid stinking mass. Floating in salt water and exposure to sunlight for ten years or more matures the waxy blob into a grey, sweet smelling solid which is used as a base for perfumes. Although the family may be able to sell the ambergris, it cannot be used in Australia or the US, since both countries are signatories to the Washington Treaty, which bans the trade of musk deer and whale products for perfume."
I always wondered what the "Woohoo, I'm rich" and "OMG, I'm sitting next to a big lump of vomit" expressions would look like combined.
No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
I'll simply shed my skin!
Fry: heh, Yakov Smirnoff said it
Leela: No he didn't.
But still not bad for a random walk on the beach. An article I read states that the material is worth around 17 Euro/gramm. The lump was around 15 Kg, which made the couple a smooth 240.000 Euros.
The grass is always greener on the other side of the light cone.
Ambergris is classified as a product of a whale under Australian law, so the family is unable to sell it commercially. It can be sold for research purposes but it requires permits for export. The most they can do with it in Australia is donate it to a museum or use it as centerpiece for their dining room table.
Got Shadowrun? Awakened Worlds
It's actually more often than not illegal to posess it - as it's a product of an endangered species - if they don't burn it, and soon, they could find themselves doing jail time.
But in chapter 91 of Moby Dick, The Pequod Meets The Rose-Bud, Stubb fast talks a French whaler out of a dead bloated whale, and then harvests a purse of ambergris directly from its bowels.
--
Stubb to the French Captain via a symapthetic interpreter: Thank him heartily; but tell him it's against my principles to drink with the man I've diddled.
What exactly is the sense of forbidding trade in a product with whale-origin that in no way influences the whale if used ? I mean, it's literally ten year old vomit from the whales POV. It's not like any whale will in any way be negatively influenced by the harvesting (i.e. picking up from beach) and selling of this item.
Man, it would be great to add a recording of whale hork to one of those insipid 80's "Songs of the Whale" collections...
"And now we will record the haunting sounds of these gentle***HOOOOOOOORRRRRKKKK***Splat*** Dear God in Heaven, what was *that*?"
By the taping of my glasses, something geeky this way passes
...Read "Perfume" by Patrick Suskind for more information on disgusting substances used in the perfume industry. Its also a hell of a good story.
If you think whale barf is bad, check out civet.
Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
Flash news, hard liquor sales go up. An interviewed buyer told our report : "It's for the whales".
In related news, police has received several complaints about loud drunken whales vomiting near harbors : "As if the drunken sailors weren't enough" complained a senior citizen...
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
...in the multi-billion year quest to attract mates, practices such as bathing in putrid whale vomit are just as common today as wearing stoat carcass on one's head once was. Yep. We've progressed alright. ;p
-"...bad old ideas look confusingly fresh when they are packaged as technology" - Jaron Lanier (Digital Maoism on Edge.o