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Australia4514 Posts
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,17928474-13762,00.html
A STINKING, solidified lump of gunk from the gut of a sperm whale could make an Australian family up to $1 million richer.
The 14.75kg block of rare whale excreta, expelled orally, was found by the family on a beach near Streaky Bay on South Australia's west coast.
They were baffled by the substance before inquiries revealed it to be ambergris - a wax-like substance originating from the intestine of a sperm whale, and greatly prized for its use in perfume.
Marine ecology consultant Ken Jury, who is representing the family, said ambergris was worth $US20-$US65 a gram ($27-$87). Mr Jury said ambergris was belched from a sperm whale as a foul-smelling substance.
"It's actually belched out by the animal, would you believe, and those few across the world that have witnessed that or heard it say it's quite remarkable," Mr Jury told ABC radio.
"When a whale does that, particularly a big sperm whale, apparently the sound of it travels for miles across the water."
Mr Jury said the finding was rare. "When the whale throws this out, it's discarded material that it can't digest and includes all sorts of things like hundreds of squid beaks and goodness knows what," he said. "The substance is actually lighter than water and so it floats around the ocean.
"If you were to pick it up immediately after the whale discarded it, you would immediately put it back because it is so foul.
"However, over a period of floating around the ocean for 10 years, the sun and the salt water cleanses this amazing stuff. After 10 years, it's considered clean and all you are getting then is the wonderful musty, very sweet perfume which I have got to say is ultra-smooth.
"You can trace it back to 1000 BC. The Egyptians used it, the Chinese did - they not only used it as perfumes but they used to eat it and they used to give it as gifts. It was literally worth more than gold."
Ambergris has been used as a fixative for fine perfumes, for medicinal purposes and also as an aphrodisiac. It also has been used to enhance the flavours of food and wine, and for herbal and homeopathic remedies.
- Time for me to start up a whale farm i think.
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Baltimore, USA22180 Posts
Whale vomit = human perfume... gogo~
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1. Get a huge aquarium
2. Get tons of genetically altered mini-whales
3. Fill the aquarium with squid beaks and ocean trash
4. Collect whale puke daily and throw it into a giant hot blender full of ocean water
5. Package it as "Essence de Baleine"
6. Profit!!!
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that's nasty, but dam.. $_$
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On January 24 2006 17:20 zdd wrote:
1. Get a huge aquarium
2. Get tons of genetically altered mini-whales
3. Fill the aquarium with squid beaks and ocean trash
4. Collect whale puke daily and throw it into a giant hot blender full of ocean water
5. Package it as "Essence de Baleine"
6. Profit!!!
This is a much better idea than all the underpants I've been saving. I could never figure out step two.
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MURICA15980 Posts
But don't they have to wait 10 years? Or I guess they have ways to speed up the process now, I guess.
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On January 24 2006 18:06 Klogon wrote:
But don't they have to wait 10 years? Or I guess they have ways to speed up the process now, I guess.
It floats around the ocean for around 10 years before washing up.
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On January 24 2006 17:20 zdd wrote:
1. Get a huge aquarium
2. Get tons of genetically altered mini-whales
3. Fill the aquarium with squid beaks and ocean trash
4. Collect whale puke daily and throw it into a giant hot blender full of ocean water
5. Package it as "Essence de Baleine"
6. Profit!!!
LoL, nicely put.
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at first, i thought it throw up sperms...
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On January 24 2006 18:29 artofmagic wrote:
at first, i thought it throw up sperms...
NOPE, ONLY YO MOMMA
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On January 24 2006 18:50 ml1710 wrote:Show nested quote +On January 24 2006 18:29 artofmagic wrote:
at first, i thought it throw up sperms... NOPE, ONLY YO MOMMA
o no u di-ant
edit: well i mean cmon guyz, whale vomit and money, who hasn't made the connection?
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No better way to impress your woman than with Eu De Whale Vomit.
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something like this was in futurama when kiff (sp) got thrown up on by the whale when he tried to get his watch back for amy(sp)
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They use that in perfume? I'm never smelling a girl again
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On January 24 2006 20:01 Sadist wrote:
something like this was in futurama when kiff (sp) got thrown up on by the whale when he tried to get his watch back for amy(sp)
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lol i thought it was just a comic joke about "valuable whale barf". btw what does (sp) mean in your post?
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Rofl, I knew this would end up here, we have had an office meeting about this, we want to change the direction the company is going, move away from engineering and lifting and concentrate on whale vomit.
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(sp) means that you're not sure if you spelled the word right. In this case, the names could have different spellings
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EPT
