[Mr. K]

fragrance industry? ummmm what does whale vomit smell like?

[martin_fierro]

Ambergris: A crucial element in

[farlander]

Darn, I can just see it now, people picking up all kinds of disgusting stuff and trying to sell it on ebay...

[Supernatural]

Moby Dick. They found ambergris in a whale's stomach in that story. Stubbs held it up and said, "a prize"!

[gondramB]

"ambergris (ăm'bərgrēs) , waxlike substance originating as a morbid concretion in the intestine of the sperm whale. Lighter than water, it is found floating on tropical seas or cast up on the shore in yellow, gray, black, or variegated masses, usually a few ounces in weight, though pieces weighing several hundred pounds have been found. Ambergris has been greatly valued from earliest times. It is now used as a fixative in perfumes. Its active principle is ambrein, a crystalline alcohol with the empirical formula C30H51OH."

http://www.answers.com/ambergris&r=67

[neodad]

I'm speechless.

[Drew68]

I believe this is used in Chanel No. 5. Seriously. IIRC, that stuff isn't cheap either.

[KJC1]

After the Canadian election results, there could be good money to be had monitoring Michael Moore's sewage pipes.

[Riley]

Ambergris was once a highly valuable commodity- even as disgusting as it may sound. I'm not sure how much used it is today, though.

You may recall it's mention when the young sailor in 'Master and Commander: Far Side of the World' was speculating on what riches that the Acheron's hold might produce.

[Mase]

In the 60's and 70's my father worked for a company that manufactured fragrances. They would contract boats to follow migrating whales to collect the ambergris. It was a key ingredient in many perfumes and was one reason why some perfume was so expensive.

As a teenager I worked at the manufacturing plant. You wouldn't believe some of the things they used to make perfume. I used to tell people what I saw but no one would believe that something so awful could create something so fragrant.

[beaversmom]

I don't know why, but I'm pinging you to all the nasty articles today.

[teletech]

When I saw the title "Whale vomit....", I thought they were talking about one of Fat Teddy's speeches.

[RightWingAtheist]

[tumblindice]

squid beaks

[Phantom Lord]

Damn. I thought the Futurama episode about whale vomit being valuable for purfume was a joke. Who knew it was actually real!

[yldstrk]

Squids have beaks??? Who knew???

[sully777]

Hurling expensive chunks ping

"I'm all wet, sweeeet!" -- Cartman on Free Willzyx

[dinoparty]

Whale vomit? Dang, someone must have cashed in big time after Ted Kennedy spoke at the Alito hearings.

[JustAnotherOkie]

All they do is show the whales a picture of Hillary in a string bikini and just like clockwork KABOOM 100 gallons of vomit.

[traderrob6]

You just can't make this stuff up.