Have you ever heard this word – Ambergris? Do you know what it is, what it looks like and what it smells like?

Depending on which end it appears from, it is either sperm whale poop or sperm whale vomit. Usually it is faecal matter, but if the lump is too large to pass through the intestines is expelled via the mouth leading to the reputation of ambergris as primarily coming from whale vomit.

It is a solid waxy flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color that originates in the intestine of the sperm whale. No other whale produces it.

Price tag
It is typically somewhere in the middle of the ocean, so it is a rare find. Ambergris only washes up on a beach somewhere every few years. Less than 5% of the sperm whale carcasses that make it to shore, contain ambergris.

It not only has cultural value to the Maldives but depending on the quality it can be USD120.000,- per kilogram! Although it does seem difficult to trade.

Perfume
By weight, ambergris is worth more than gold because it’s use in the perfume industry as an ingredient in the most expensive scents. The principal historical use of ambergris was as a fixative in perfumery. Nowadays synthetic subsitutes are being used.

It has a unique but complex scent to describe it, it is ambery, musky, warm and oceanic with a tobacco leaf note. As it ages it acquires a sweet earthy scent commonly likened to the fragrance of rubbing alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency. Ambergris is a heart or base note, this depends on how long it has been cured.

Some fragrances of Gucci and Dior use ambergris.

Medicine
In days gone by it was also highly prized as incense, an aphrodisiac and medicine. Ancient Egyptians burnt ambergris as incense, while in modern Egypt it is used for scenting cigarettes. During the Middle Ages, Europeans used it as medication for headaches, colds and epilepsy.

Sperm whales in Maldives
Sperm whales are not common in the Maldives. There are speculations that whales migrate towards warm waters of the Indian Ocean in search of food. Though divers have not reported an increase in sightings