On wild beaches, secretive harvesters seek the coveted whale byproduct that can make a fortune in an instant
rans Beuse sits at his kitchen table, examining what looks like an array of rocks. Using a slim, sharpened blade he scrapes each in turn, producing five mounds of powder: bright white, deep caramel, tarry black.
The process has an illicit air, but the substance Beuse is handling not a drug. It is ambergris, a form of whale dung, exceedingly rare and valuable, sought after by perfumers and gathered by secretive harvesters among the flotsam of New Zealand’s stormy coastlines. Frans Beuse and his wife, Adrienne, are among the country’s largest dealers.
is being reshaped by human influence: as climate change alters weather patterns and ocean currents, patterns of ambergris distribution are shifting too.“Nothing else really smells like ambergris, except sperm whales,” says Kane Fleury, a curator at Otago Museum. He knows that smell well; the museum sometimes works with the Department of Conservation to examine whale remains or assist when they beach.
When mature, ambergris is valued by perfumers for its properties as a fixative, as well as its own fragrance, which can range from deep, faecal animal musk, to a sweeter dark caramel, or light and powdery in the higher grades.
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