Editing Ambergris (section)

==Formation==
Ambergris is formed from a secretion of the [[biliary|bile duct]] in the [[intestines]] of the sperm whale, and can be found floating on the sea or washed up on coastlines. It is sometimes found in the [[abdomen]]s of dead [[sperm whales]].<ref name="EB1911"/> Because the beaks of [[giant squid]]s have been discovered within lumps of ambergris, scientists have hypothesized that the substance is produced by the whale's gastrointestinal tract to ease the passage of hard, sharp objects that it may have eaten.{{Citation needed|date=January 2025}}

Ambergris is passed like fecal matter. 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.<ref>{{cite book |author1=William F. Perrin |author2=Bernd Wursig |author3=J. G.M. [[Hans Thewissen|Thewissen]]|title=Encyclopedia of Marine Mammals |year=2009 |publisher=Academic Press |isbn=978-0080919935 |page=28 }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Clarke |first=R. |date=2006 |title=The origin of ambergris |url=https://www.lajamjournal.org/index.php/lajam/article/view/231 |journal=Latin American Journal of Aquatic Mammals |volume=5 |pages=7–21 |doi=10.5597/lajam00087 |issn=2236-1057|doi-access=free }}</ref> Ambergris takes years to form. 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. Ambergris is rare; once expelled by a whale, it often floats for years before making landfall.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kemp |first=Christopher |title=Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F0CKIxwLT-oC |year=2012 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-43036-2 |pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=F0CKIxwLT-oC&pg=PA12 12–13]}}</ref> The slim chances of finding ambergris and the legal ambiguity involved led perfume makers away from ambergris, and led chemists on a quest to find viable alternatives.<ref name="Daley 2016">{{cite web |last=Daley |first=Jason |title=Your High-End Perfume Is Likely Part Whale Mucus |website=Smithsonian |date=14 April 2016 |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/your-high-end-perfume-likely-part-whale-mucus-180958767/ |access-date=6 August 2018}}</ref>

Ambergris is found primarily in the [[Atlantic Ocean]] and on the coasts of [[South Africa]]; [[Brazil]]; [[Madagascar]]; the [[East Indies]]; [[The Maldives]]; [[China]]; [[Japan]]; [[India]]; [[Australia]]; [[New Zealand]]; and the [[Maluku Islands|Molucca Islands]]. Most commercially collected ambergris comes from [[the Bahamas]] in the Atlantic, particularly [[New Providence]]. In 2021, fishermen found a 127 kg (280-pound) piece of ambergris off the coast of [[Yemen]], valued at US$1.5 million.<ref>{{cite web|title=A group of fishermen netted a $1.5 million whale-vomit windfall after dredging up a 127 280-pound hunk of the stuff |url=https://www.insider.com/whale-vomit-worth-millions-fishermen-2021-6 |website=Business Insider}}</ref> Fossilised ambergris from 1.75 million years ago has also been found.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Baldanza |first1=Angela |first2=Roberto |last2=Bizzarri |first3=Federico |last3=Famiani |first4=Paolo |last4=Monaco |first5=Roberto |last5=Pellegrino |first6=Paola |last6=Sassi |title=Enigmatic, biogenically induced structures in Pleistocene marine deposits: A first record of fossil ambergris |journal=Geology |volume=41 |issue=10 |pages=1075 |date=30 July 2013 |doi=10.1130/G34731.1 
|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/254559304 |bibcode=2013Geo....41.1075B}}</ref>