Translated from Ecomare museum on Texel island in the Netherlands:
Treasure discovered inside stranded whale – 13/04/02
The carcass of the sperm whale which beached in December on a sandbank near Texel has proved to be a valuable treasure-house. During the dissection of the animal by employees of Ecomare an exceptional amount of ambergris was found in its rectum. These smelly lumps are very rare and of great value to the perfume industry.
Exceptional
Last December the dead sperm whale washed ashore a few days after the humpback which had beached while still alive. Therefore it had hardly been in the news. The nearly 30-tonne adult male had died at sea and stranded on the Razende Bol. Sperm whales are the largest toothed whales on earth and are uncommon in the North Sea. Great was the surprise when out of the whale’s rectum came huge chunks of ambergris. It was already special to find a dead sperm whale, the discovery of the ambergris in the body made it exceptional. Normally, ambergris is defecated and therefore sometimes it is found in small quantities of no more than a few pounds on beaches. However, this sperm whale contained five chunks of ambergris with a total weight of 83 kilogram, accumulated in the rectum.
Cuttlefish beaks
Ambergris is found only in 1 of 100 sperm whale bodies, usually in small amounts. It is not clear why some sperm whales produce ambergris and others do not. Probably in order to defecate sharp parts in their food, like cuttlefish beaks, without damage to their entrails. Healthy sperm whales spit out these cuttlefish beaks when they are in their first or second stomach. In some sperm whales there is a leak between the 2nd and 3rd stomach, causing the sharp cuttlefish beaks to go further inside the gastrointestinal tract. The irritation which the sharp beaks cause there makes the sperm whale produce ambergris as a response. Usually that is just defecated, but sometimes large quantities of amber accumulate in the rectum and cause congestion like that.
Value
Experts from France have looked at the ambergris for Ecomare, and on the basis of their estimation of quality, the value is estimated at hundreds of thousands of euros. For scientists, this discovery is of exceptional importance. So, the amber lumps went to the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Utrecht for a CT scan and X-ray examination.
Museum
The amber of the Texel sperm whale will be sold. It is too precious to exhibit it. After consultation with the Ministry of Economic Affairs it became clear that any proceeds for Ecomare could benefit the objective of Ecomare: education and information about the Wadden Sea and North Sea. A small piece of the ambergris will remain at Ecomare and will be exhibited there next to the skeleton of the sperm whale. Of the total amount of ambergris, a cast has also been made which will become a museum exhibit as well. During the next months, the whale’s skeleton will be put together. The public will be able to see that.
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