What is Ambergris

In News 

• The Crime Branch in Pune and seized 550 grams of ambergris, also known as ‘floating gold’. 

What is Ambergris?

• Ambergris means grey amber in French.  
• It is sometimes referred to as whale vomit.
• However, Christopher Kemp, the author of ‘Floating gold: A Natural and (unnatural) history of Ambergris’, says this is not right.
  • According to him, Ambergris, a solid waxy substance originating in the intestine of the sperm whale (Physeter catodon). 
  • As per Kemp, Ambergris is produced only by an estimated one per cent of sperm whales.

• It floats around the surface of the water body and at times settles on the coast.
• German physician Franz Schwediawer in 1783 called it “preternaturally hardened whale dung”.
• This excretion is so valuable it is referred to as floating gold. 
  • Investigating agencies from across India estimate its value to be somewhere between Rs 1 to 2 crores per kilogram, depending on the purity and quality.

• Why is it so expensive? 
  • The reason for its high cost is its use in the perfume market, especially to create fragrances like musk.
    • It being extremely rare contributes to its high demand and high price in the international market.
  • Ancient Egyptians used it as incense. It is also believed to be used in some traditional medicines.

• Legalities and recent cases of seizure in India: There is a ban on possession and trade of ambergris in countries like the USA, Australia and India, in several other countries it is a tradable commodity, though with limitations in some of them. 
  • In the Indian context, sperm whales are a protected species under Schedule 2 of the Wildlife Protection Act and possession or trade of any of its by-products, including Ambergris and its byproducts, is illegal under provisions of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

Source: IE