UK man finds chunk of whale vomit possibly worth £100,000

Last summer we talked about a boy in the UK who found a yellowish rock on a beach near his home. What the boy thought was a rock was actually a chunk of whale vomit known as ambergris. The chunk of whale vomit the boy found in August of 2012 was estimated to be worth as much as £40,000.

A man named Ken Wilman was recently walking his dog on the beach in the UK when he discovered a strange yellow stone. While it looked like a chunk of dirty yellow rock, Wilman’s find could be worth as much as £100,000. The man says that his dog first spotted the rock and that it “smelled horrible.”

He actually originally left the rock on the beach and came back to retrieve it later after an Internet search told him how much the substance could be worth. Wilman has already been offered €50,000 for the 3 kg specimen if it turns out to be sperm whale ambergris. The material is an important component in perfumes.

The man is currently sending a sample to be tested to determine if it is in fact ambergris. If the substance is confirmed to be sperm whale vomit, some estimate the material could be worth as much as $180,000. Ambergris has been used in high-end perfumes such as Chanel No. 5. If you’re wondering, sperm whales eject ambergris into the water when they have stomach or throat problems where the material can float for years as it hardens.

Story Timeline UK Boy finds rare whale vomit

[via Telegraph]