Gary Kline, age 11, of Shaker Height s, Ohio, for his question;

What do whales spit up to make perfume?

Certain whales cough up a dark, foul smelling stuff called ambergris. The oils in ambergris have a quality of holding a smell for a long time. When purified, they are added to the fragrant essences used to make perfume. This way, the sweet smell of roses and the spicy smell of sandlewood last much longer than they would without these strong fixative oils.

Ambergris is thrown up by the sperm whale who foods on the giant squids of the deep ocean. These squids have horny, parrot‑like beaks. It is thought that these hard beaks sometimes damage the insides of the whales. Ambergris forms as a result of this and the whale is not happy until he gets it off his stomach.

Sometimes a great wad of ambergris gets washed ashore. It is like a dark, soft, oily stone and you might avoid it on account of the smell. This would be sad' for a sizeable mass of ambergris is worth many hundreds of dollars.