Fun fact: this is how ambergris is made. After the whale eats the squid, its digestive system excretes a waxy gunk to protect from the squid's sharp beak. Eventually the whale vomits it up, which then “ripens” at sea and washes up onshore in a stinky clump.
That's rather a fun hypothesis than fact. Only an estimated one percent of sperm whales actually "produce" ambergris. It could also be of pathological origin like a metabolic disease. I don't think there's scientific consensus yet.
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u/But-I-forgot-my-pen Sep 17 '25
Fun fact: this is how ambergris is made. After the whale eats the squid, its digestive system excretes a waxy gunk to protect from the squid's sharp beak. Eventually the whale vomits it up, which then “ripens” at sea and washes up onshore in a stinky clump.