Morningstar wrote:
Christopher wrote:
Morningstar wrote:
OK, excuse me for sounding some dumb, but why is it prohibited for trade in the US? It is vomit. Something that really can't be controlled. Whales don't have fingers so they can't very well stick their fingers down their throats. And can't really stick a gun to a whale's head and say "Vomit or else." I guess you could feed a whale a bad piece of whatever they eat and wait around for them to toss their cookies, but can anyone plan it out that well? And actually make a profit from doing so? Just shaking my head that this law is all.
Step One. Kill whale.
Step Two. Take Ambergris.
So, they have vomit in them at all times? Gosh, I am going to have to do some reading up on this. Is it more than just vomit then? What I mean is it stomach bile that hasn't quite made it to the "vomit" stage? The stuff we all have in our stomachs, but only on a really bad day makes it to the stage of leaving our bodies???? Gosh, I am confused. I hate being confused. I will definitely have to read more about this. Thanks, Christopher, for the heads up on this.
Vomit is just stomach contents, Ambergris is something different.
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In the gut of the whale it is a black, semiviscous and foul-smelling liquid.
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Ambergris occurs as a biliary secretion of the intestines of the sperm whale,
I would assume that if it can secrete it, it's in there somewhere. The sell ban is probably to discourage people trying to kill whales for it (whether they actually have it in them or not, to then process it artificially (toting that it's authentic ambergris), or try to feed the damn things squids in the hopes of making it. Either way does sound very unprofitable.
*edit* After reading a couple of articles, it appears that ambergris lumps are kept in the whales intestines for a while before getting expelled, this would mean people might kill sperm whales to grab it.