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Whale Vomit for Sale!
Yum! It's also used as a flavouring
Looking for some whale vomit?
If you're in the market for a nice big pile of whale vomit, then you're in luck because two men in Wales (that's the country, not the big mammal) came across a load of the sticky stuff when walking on the beach. Whale sick is actually called 'ambergris' and used to make perfume...yes, really! They now have a synthetic (man-made) version for perfume making though.
Sperm Whales - they're big and they barf!
They found 50kg of it which could be worth nearly $1.2 million (£550,000). Ambergris is a sort of sticky mass that they think sperm whales make in their stomachs to coat spikey things they eat (they have teeth and love chomping on squid). Eventually they barf it up in the sea.
The ancient Chinese called it lung sien hiang or 'dragon’s spittle fragrance'. During the Black Death in Europe, people believed that carrying a ball of ambergris could help to stop them getting the plague. Madame du Barry was said to have washed in ambergris to make herself irresistible to Louis XV...she must have been desperate! It has also been a flavouring for food. King Charles II’s favourite dish was said to have been eggs and ambergris. We prefer eggs, sausage and chips! Information sourced from: www.express.co.uk/posts/view/36973/Sickly-find-worth-0-5m www.memoryanddesire.typepad.com/blog/2008/03/praise.html Pics from: ambergris: www.hamous.org ambergris in bowl: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris sperm whale: www.omplace.com |