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Happy Friday to you, too.

So you’re choosing to spend your time reading about the potential value of whale shite? Alright, off we go.

Let’s start at the beginning, as they say, and a massive bust of ambergris by officials in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.

Ambergris has been dubbed the treasure of the sea and floating gold.

It’s incredibly valuable, with the eight kilograms seized during that bust in India worth just a tick over $1 million (around R15 million).

Some call it ‘whale vomit’ but according to the Natural History Museum’s Richard Sabin, that’s not the case:

“Based upon recent discussion with colleagues around the world, I lean towards the theory that ambergris forms in the intestines and passes along with faecal matter, forming an obstruction in the rectum.”

It comes out with faecal matter, so we will treat it as such.

Observe, your potential retirement package:

Image: Peter Kaminski / Wikimedia Commons

Ambergris is highly coveted by the perfume industry. VICE below:

“We’ve seen these stories where fishermen communities have found ambergris and it completely changed their fortunes overnight, simply because they are in countries where it’s legal to trade them,” Sumanth Bindumadhav, senior manager of wildlife disaster response at Humane Society International, told VICE World News.

The sale of ambergris in India is criminalised under the country’s wildlife protection laws, hence the bust.

You might be thinking that sperm whales are a relatively common sighting in many parts of the world, and thus there should be plenty of ambergris to go around.

Incorrect, because the substance is produced in the intestinal tract of roughly one out of every 100 sperm whales.

When expelled by the animal into the sea, ambergris can develop fragrant properties over time, which makes it a valuable ingredient in perfumes. The substance can fetch up to $25 per gram.

To Google, we go, and I found one website selling ambergris “from South African east coast” for $29 a gram.

There was also a potential pooload payload found in 2013 on Grotto Beach in Hermanus by retired businessman Fred Kuys, although there doesn’t seem to be much information in the way of confirmation.

Sperm whales do frequent Hermanus, after all.

Perhaps some added impetus to head to the seaside town this festive season and keep an eye on those majestic beasts frolicking just off the shoreline.

I wouldn’t suggest trying to extract any ambergris from a whale itself, but get out those binocs and have a good look through whatever ‘deposits’ they leave behind.

After all, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure, or something like that.

[sources:nhm&vice]