Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby-Dick, first published in 1851, tells us that “fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale”. Since then, our knowledge of whales has greatly improved and today, synthetic ambrein most often replaces natural ambergris. Yet, the origin of the latter substance is still not entirely clear. We know that ambergris is produced in the intestines of sperm whales and then passed with the faeces or expelled via the mouth. But there is little knowledge on the reasons why sperm whales produce ambergris. Current explanations include the hypotheses that ambergris is formed upon the digestion of giant squids or that it results from a disease of the whale’s digestive system.
Read more:
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=strange-but-true-whale-waste-is-valuable
http://www.naturalhistorymag.com/picks-from-the-past/151686/floating-gold
Thomas Jagau