Comments on: Dog finds whale vomit

By: wobinidan

wobinidan — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 01:33:00 +0000

Damnit, I wanted to post that.

By: Antinous / Moderator

Antinous / Moderator — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 21:50:00 +0000

I first learned about ambergris because it played a prominent role in Moby Dick.

I had the same experience with homoerotic subtext.

By: millie fink

millie fink — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:54:00 +0000

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_D_Z-D2tzi14/TNiRrq56_fI/AAAAAAAAEDY/iaaOLq3S6N4/s1600/dogs30alt.png

By: B E Pratt

B E Pratt — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 20:20:00 +0000

Thanks. Just from having read Moby Dick, whale ‘vomit’ didn’t seem at all correct.

By: Jordan Pez

Jordan Pez — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:47:00 +0000

I don’t want kids pokin it or eatin it or puttin it in their mouths…

By: Sam Ley

Sam Ley — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:33:00 +0000

Reminds me of this story about a whale-poop sniffing dog who is used by researchers to track the positions of orca. He can scent that poop from a remarkable distance, and guide the people driving the boat on which direction to go. Pretty cute. And gross.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/us/sniffing-out-a-subtle-scent-to-help-save-some-whales.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

By: David Sohl

David Sohl — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:23:00 +0000

I first learned about ambergris because it played a prominent role in Moby Dick. Thanks, Mr. Melville!

By: Gregg

Gregg — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 16:04:00 +0000

Precious hamburgers?!?

By: harri manni

harri manni — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:54:00 +0000

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-21272871

By: James Agenbroad

James Agenbroad — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:38:00 +0000

You have to be careful pickup stuff up off of the beach. ISTR that several people have received (relatively minor) burns pickup up what they thought was amber that had washed ashore from the Irish Sea that turned out instead to be chunks of mustard gas* dumped in the sea after the WWII.

*really a viscous liquid at room temperature.

By: ixcheldelgato

ixcheldelgato — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:21:00 +0000

I have a chunk of ambergris I purchased a few years ago for use in perfumery. It is amazing. Phenomenal, really. The most extraordinary smell, deep and luscious, but also clean in a sexy way. It smells like someone who just naturally smells great, right after they had sex on a beach. Every chunk is different, I’ve heard, but mine is lovely.

By: Rotwang

Rotwang — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:45:00 +0000

I’ve heard of dogs returning to their own vomit, but this is obviously a more advanced dog.

By: Wisconsin Platt

Wisconsin Platt — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:12:00 +0000

Oh yes it does, on the bottom of the box, after monosodium glutamate.

By: Itsumishi

Itsumishi — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 14:01:00 +0000

Frequently I tell off commentators for commenting before reading a linked article, but this short description is too sweet to ruin with things like context.

By: Nash Rambler

Nash Rambler — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:56:00 +0000

Too bad he didn’t roll in it; he would have been King Dog around the neighborhood for awhile.

By: showme

showme — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:50:00 +0000

What? No lark’s vomit?

By: Gillian Weeks

Gillian Weeks — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:47:00 +0000

While certainly super disgusting, ambergris isn’t actually whale vomit. It does originate in the whale’s digestive tract (to help them pass food), and it can be expelled along with fecal matter or through the mouth. (Poor things.) But! Strictly speaking, it’s neither puke, poop, bile, phlegm, ear wax, kidney stones, belly button lint, nor anything else humans tend to excrete. Still, though. Way gross.

By: welcomeabored

welcomeabored — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:32:00 +0000

I was sitting with my husband in a little cafe on the Oregon coast this September. The decor included several examples of whale vomit, which I thought was an odd choice of items for the customers to gaze at with their clam chowder. What were the owners thinking? Didn’t seem all that rare though…

By: Christopher

Christopher — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 13:28:00 +0000

I first learned about ambergris because it played a prominent role in an Encyclopedia Brown mystery. Thanks, Mr. Sobol!

By: Marko Raos

Marko Raos — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:59:00 +0000

ah, Ambergris… one of those wondrous super rare fabulous treasures of olden times…

By: rachel ten bruggencate

rachel ten bruggencate — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:58:00 +0000

This man’s quote is me, every morning, trying to find something to eat in the fridge.

By: Bersl

Bersl — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 12:20:00 +0000

I read “Dog finds whale vomit delicious”.