<p>Student Name:______#______</p><p>Boy Gets Rich On Whale Poop Sep 9, 2012 By Arati Rao</p><p>Charlie Naysmith Photo Courtesy: Daily Echo via BNPS.co.uk Imagine winning up to $63,000 without even buying a lottery ticket or going to a casino. How’s that possible, you ask? Well, just ask eight year-old Charlie Naysmith of the U.K. He found it lying on the beach. No, not money, but he found a treasure. A rock-like object, called Ambergris. And that is big.</p><p>What is Ambergris?</p><p>Truth be told, no one quite knows what Ambergris exactly is. Scientists have found that when a sperm whale ingests something hard to digest – like the beak of a squid, it covers it with a sticky, greasy substance. This allows smoother passage of the irritant through the whale’s digestive system, and it eventually throws it out. Scientists are not quite sure which end of the whale it comes out of -- they either regurgitate (whale vomit) it or pass it out as poop. They now suspect it is more likely the latter. Relative size of the Sperm whale and a human. Wiki Commons This sticky, grease substance then floats along on the ocean, getting oxidized and hardening. This is what is Ambergris. The word is derived from Latin for “grey amber.”</p><p>So it is whale poop, essentially. Now why on earth would that fetch Charlie so much money?</p><p>Ambergris is valuable</p><p>Ask the House of Chanel and other famous names in the perfume industry. Ambergris, when it is first ejected smells like … well, poop. But after it oxidizes and hardens, it takes on a slightly more earthy, musky aroma. This hardened rock-like substance can then be dissolved in alcohol to extract what is called ambrein. In small quantities, this “ambrein” is then again oxidized to form ambrox and ambrinol. These are what give Ambergris its smell. Added to perfumes, it "fixes" it to the human body – gives it a staying power.</p><p>But sperm whales are not as abundant as farm chickens. They are endangered and oceans are vast. Thus, finding ambergris is difficult. It is a rare find, Charlie’s. Which is why it is valuable. The specimen Charlie found could fetch him anywhere between $15,000 up to $63,000. He can only sell it to European perfume houses. Using ambergris in perfumes is illegal in the US, given the sperm whale’s endangered status. Perfume houses in the US use a synthetic equivalent called ambroxan which mimics the smell of ambrox and ambrinol.</p><p>Who discovered the use of Ambergris?</p><p>Far out as it may seem, ambergris has been in human use for a long, long while. Ancient Egyptians burned it as incense, it has been historically used to flavor food, and in the Middle Ages, Europeans thought it cured colds and other diseases.</p><p>Time to revisit the beach, maybe?</p><p>Questions:</p><p>1. What causes Ambergris to be formed? Student Name:______#______</p><p>2. What is made from Ambergris? Is there anything funny about this product being made from whale waste?</p><p>3. Why is Ambergris worth so much money? Hint: How much of it is there?</p><p>4. How much money could Charlie make from his find?</p><p>5. What are some historical uses of Ambergris? When you read these, how does it make you feel?</p>