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MOLECULAR biologist Christopher Kemp had never heard of ambergris until one day, when he was living in New Zealand, a huge mound of what looked like 鈥渄irty week-old snow鈥� washed ashore near Wellington. Crowds of people fell into a frenzy, hacking away at it with anything they had to hand.

The excitement, Kemp soon learned, was because the substance was believed to be a massive boulder of ambergris. This elusive compound, partly made from undigested squid beaks, originates in the guts of just 1 per cent of sperm whales. Ambergris has been used for centuries in perfumes, health remedies and even extravagant recipes. It sells for up to US$20 per gram. As it turned out, the lump on the beach was just a block of processed animal fat, but by then Kemp was already on a mission to find out more.

Floating Gold is the story of that endeavour. People who live near shores where ambergris occasionally washes up are aware of its value, but what happens when you make a find 鈥� and how you confirm it to be ambergris 鈥� is less well known.

Researching this book, which is equal parts historical review, scientific detective story and tale of adventure, had Kemp plodding along windswept beaches, picking up every dead bird, bit of rock and hard lump of faeces left by the tide. In his fascinating account he tells how he tracked down 90-year-old experts, confronted cagey perfumers and pursued tight-lipped ambergris hunters, until he discovered all there is to know about the substance.