This Just In: Whale Poo Makes People Horny, Smell Good

Have you ever thought that you would be much, much richer if you had just collected that whale do-do instead of tossing it back in the sea? Well, it is true. Specific parts of whale do-do brown are worth up to $18,000. It is called ambergis and has apparently many uses. Well, I'll let the article explain.

...scientists postulate that whales do not expel ambergris through their mouths. No one has ever seen a sperm whale excrete ambergris, although sperm whale expert Hal Whitehead of Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, admits that it is assumed the voiding takes place as fecal excretion, because when first cast out, he says, "Well, it smells more like the back end than the front."
...
Internationally, however, the trade is legal and Perrin has no problem finding French perfume companies to buy his stock. "We also sell it to a royal family in the Middle East and they use it as an aphrodisiac. Apparently they take some milk, some honey, and grind up small quantities of the amber and put that in as well," he says.

Ok, maybe I'll say no the next time someone asks me if I want to eat or use a "natural aphrodisiac".

(via SciAm)Strange but True: Whale Waste Is Extremely Valuable