Christopher Kemp, the author of Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris, says that it is only produced by sperm whales, and only by an estimated one percent of them. Another theory states that an ambergris mass is formed when the colon of a whale is enlarged by a blockage from intestinal worms and cephalopod parts resulting in the death of the whale and the mass being excreted into the sea. It is speculated that an ambergris mass too large to be passed through the intestines is expelled via the mouth, but this remains under debate. Because the beaks of giant squids have been discovered within lumps of ambergris, scientists have theorized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten.Īmbergris is passed like fecal matter. It is sometimes found in the abdomens of dead sperm whales. Formation Īmbergris is formed from a secretion of the bile duct in the intestines of the sperm whale, and can be found floating on the sea or washed up on coastlines. The archaic alternate spelling 'ambergrease' arose as an eggcorn from the phonetic pronunciation of 'ambergris,' encouraged by the substance's waxy texture. This fossilized resin became the dominant (and now exclusive) sense of 'amber', leaving 'ambergris' as the word for the whale secretion. The addition of 'grey' came about when, in the Romance languages, the sense of the word 'amber' was extended to Baltic amber (fossil resin), as white or yellow amber ( ambre jaune), from as early as the late 13th century. The word 'ambergris' comes from the Old French ' ambre gris' or 'grey amber'.

The word 'amber,' in its sense of 'ambergris,' was adopted in Middle English in the 14th century. The English word amber derives from the Arabic word ʿanbar عنبر (ultimately from Middle Persian ambar, also ambergris), via Middle Latin ambar and Middle French ambre. Dogs are attracted to the smell of ambergris and are sometimes used by ambergris searchers. Īmbergris has been highly valued by perfume makers as a fixative that allows the scent to endure much longer, although it has been mostly replaced by synthetic ambroxide. It acquires a sweet, earthy scent as it ages, commonly likened to the fragrance of isopropyl alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency. Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. Ambergris ( / ˈ æ m b ər ɡ r iː s/ or / ˈ æ m b ər ɡ r ɪ s/, Latin: ambra grisea, Old French: ambre gris), ambergrease, or grey amber is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish colour produced in the digestive system of sperm whales.

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