Naked Science Forum

Life Sciences => Marine Science => Topic started by: Titanscape on 01/03/2012 11:15:44

Title: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: Titanscape on 01/03/2012 11:15:44

Long ago, I think it was the French who learned to make perfume from whale waste, washed up on beaches near New Caledonia. Boiling it... The special whales dive deep and eat huge squids of the deep, in great struggles.

What is the chemical in the whales feces that smells fragrant?

Title: Re: Perfume made from whale feces?
Post by: Don_1 on 01/03/2012 12:46:34

Ambergris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ambergris) is the ingredient used in perfume, though I think it is mostly a synthetic form which is used today.

In fact, it has been used for thousands of years. The ancient Egyptians and Chinese were using it long before the French.

Title: Re: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: CZARCAR on 03/03/2012 18:37:14

+ skunkpiss?

Title: Re: Perfume made from whale feces?
Post by: Lmnre on 04/03/2012 02:28:40

Quote from: Don_1 on 01/03/2012 12:46:34

Ambergris is the ingredient used in perfume, though I think it is mostly a synthetic form which is used today.

The perfume industry still seeks the natural stuff (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4642722.stm). 

Title: Re: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: Don_1 on 05/03/2012 09:31:53

The 'natural stuff' would probably be favoured for the most expensive perfumes, but in this case, for a change, it does no harm to the whales. Perhaps it could even be that the perfume industry would benefit from investing in whale protection.

C'mon Chanel, Baccarat and the like, at nearly $2,000.00 a bottle, you can afford to put a few bob in the coffers of the likes of Oceana. (http://oceana.org/en/about-us/what-we-do)

Title: Re: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: Doctore on 19/03/2012 00:55:41

They wont fiind never the natural perfect ingredient!

Title: Re: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: Gordian Knot on 25/03/2012 04:46:37

Feces? I always thought it was whale vomit that was the ingredient used to make perfumes, no?

Title: Re: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: Sprool on 26/03/2012 09:56:47

no it's snotty exudations from the blow hole.

Title: Re: Was perfume previously made from whale faeces?
Post by: Lmnre on 26/03/2012 12:32:53

Although ambergris is known to form in the gastrointestinal tract of sperm whales, and thought to be expelled in feces and vomit, this article (http://www.environment.gov.au/coasts/species/cetaceans/education/ambergris.html) contends that it is mostly released when whales die. I can see this happening for large pieces, but it still make sense to me that it can also be expelled in feces and vomit. Whalers also extracted it directly from the intestines when slaughtering the whales. The blowholes connect only to the lungs, so this means of expelling it seems unlikely. Ambergris contains the beaks of squids and probably other undigested materials.