This is ambergris.
It might look like a rock,
but it's actually a rare kind of whale poop.
And it's not cheap.
Per gram, ambergris can cost
more than silver, 30 times more.
If you've ever worn perfume,
well I've got some unsettling news,
you may have misted yourself with animal waste.
You see, for centuries, perfumers have been
using ambergris to enhance their fragrances.
It's essentially a clump of squid beaks
bound by a fatty secretion.
Over time, it balls up in the intestine of some sperm whales
and eventually, out it goes.
Now, in the strictest sense, it's not technically poop
but scientists think it exits the same way,
if you catch my drift.
Kemp: One way or another, a big boulder of ambergris
is released into the ocean and it floats
for decades, y'know who knows how long?
Narrator: And in that time, the mass transforms
from a sticky dung-like substance into a hard gray chunk.
And this, believe it or not, is what perfumers covet.
For one, it contains a unique chemical
that works as a fixative, which means it makes
other smells in perfume last longer.
But ambergris is also valued for something
incredibly surprising, apparently it smells good?
Kemp: It's like a bouquet of 20 or 30 different
chemical compounds, each have their own odor profile.
One will smell sort of like mushrooms,
one will smell a little bit like tobacco,
one smells like poop, one smells sort of like grass and hay.
Narrator: Sounds great.
Well, apparently perfume designers use strong scents
like those as the base note for their fragrances.
And of course we all know base notes
form the foundation of any perfume.
One company in particular has several
expensive perfumes with base notes of ambergris.
Perfumes in this collection can sell
for around $500 a bottle and are described
as a passionate love letter in fragrant form.
And while ambergris has all the makings
for a great perfume, what really drives
up the price tag is simply how rare it is.
Scientists don't know exactly why,
but only about 1% of sperm whales produce this substance.
In fact, researchers like Dr. Shane Gero, who spend years
studying sperm whales, never end up seeing it.
Dr. Gero: I've been collecting sperm whale poo
for 15, 16 years and I haven't ever collected
anything that I was like aw,
maybe this is a tiny little ambergris ball.
Narrator: Sometimes, lucky beachgoers
will stumble upon it.
In 2006, for example, a couple picked up
a 32-pound piece on a beach in Australia.
Media outlets later reported
that it could be worth nearly $300,000.
But more often, ambergris hunters will get to it first.
They track weather patterns and ocean currents
to predict where it might end up,
and once they find it, they sell it to brokers
or perfumers for up to $7,200 a pound.
Kemp: This is like gold to them, this is a real commodity
so they take it very seriously,
they can be a big aggressive, muscular.
And they really closely guard their secrets.
Narrator: But the commodity's high price
isn't the only reason they do it.
In some countries, like the U.S.,
buying, selling, or even collecting ambergris is illegal.
That's because sperm whales
are an internationally threatened species.
Dr. Gero: Before whaling starting actively,
both historical and modern whaling,
there was over a million sperm whales.
And now we're down close to a fifth of that.
Narrator: And while no whales are harmed
in the collection of ambergris,
Gero says that it's never a good idea
to buy or sell products from an endangered species.
But until we can replicate something that smells
as good as that, mm, whale poop,
people will probably keep buying and selling ambergris.