Recently, my dad sent me a newspaper article about a West Michigan local who wrote a book called "Floating Gold" which is all about ambergris, also known as whale poop. Why would my dad send me news concerning marine mammal excrement you ask? It's because the floating dung sells for about $20/gram (compare this to gold at $28/gram) and is commonly found along the shores of New Zealand. Dad figured that if I could find even just a hunk of the stuff, maybe I could finance a family trip. Goodbye housekeeping, hello whale poop.
Ambergris comes from sperm whales which eat as much as 2,000 pounds of squid a day. The whales are unable to digest the tough squid beaks which are consequently excreted and left to float for days-years and sometimes thousands of miles until it's found by some lucky beachcomber. Consider this lucky Australian couple who picked up a chunk of the stuff just because it looked interesting. They happened to ask about its identity and found out that their little souvenir was worth about $300,000.
According to the newspaper article, whale poop is valuable because it is a "fixative that prolongs the scent of some perfumes and fragrances." It's also used in some select foods for flavor and has been known to be treasured as an aphrodisiac. Companies don't like to disclose whether their products contain whale poop or not, for obvious reasons and it's bought and sold in a relatively secret market.
How do you know if you have found real ambergris? According to this New Zealand website "Ambergris comes in many colours, shapes and textures. This makes identification difficult and ensures frustration for beachcombers on the hunt for this elusive substance. Ambergris is most often white, grey, black or brown in colour or even a mixture of these shades. In shape; ambergris can be flat or square but often rounded, oval shapes appear on the beaches, probably due to the rolling and smoothing action that the ocean waves would have over a period of time, even years. If black in colour, the texture may be soft and sticky like melting tar. Most often it is hard yet waxy and may have a powdery like white coating. It can also be described as having the texture of hard, dry clay."
So if you're headed to ocean beaches for your spring break, you might consider looking for more than just seashells and sand dollars. I know that once we make it to the coasts of New Zealand, I will DEFINITELY have my eyes open for the stuff. Sadly, there are no whales in the glacial Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown (though tourists always ask if there are), so I guess it's back to polishing porcelain thrones for me for the time being. For the rest of you, happy poo hunting!
Hi! I wrote the book on whale poop, or ambergris anyway. That's fun that your dad sent you the newspaper clipping. You know, most of the book was written in New Zealand ... when I was living in Dunedin. We were in Queenstown all the time. Eat some chocolates at Patagonia for me!