Actually I believe it is illegal to own or sell ambergris in the US. It is also probably illegal to transport it either across state lines or out of the country.
makes you want to keep a whale in a tank and feed it McDonald’s
“Actually I believe it is illegal to own or sell ambergris in the US.”
I think that does not apply to ambergris when found to have been expelled by the whale.
“In the US, sperm whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which prohibits the use of any product from an endangered species. However, ambergris is regarded as a bit of a ‘grey area’, being a waste product and thus capable of being ‘salvaged’ without needing to harm whales.” http://us.whales.org/blog/2015/09/ambergris-lucky-lucrative-and-legal
United States – The possession and trade of ambergris is prohibited by the Endangered Species Act of 1973.[18]
While technically true (stupid archaic environmental rules which do nothing to help out wildlife), I’ve heard there are way around this if one finds ambergris on the beach.
Good! Then that’s one law of 80,000 that I won’t have to worry about breaking, in my lifetime.
I saw an episode of Storage Wars where they found some in a locker. They took it to an aquarium to find out what it was he told them it’s illegal to sell, so they donated it. Maybe they could get a tax deduction out of it.