[Faline]

A dog walker who spotted a smelly yellow rock on a beach says discovering it was whale vomit was like finding a “bag of cash”.

Ken Wilman said his boxer dog Madge found the 6lb lump, which could be worth £100,000, in Morecambe, Lancashire.

Ken only realised its potential value after an online search revealed the substance was ambergris, an ingredient used in the manufacture of perfume.

A French dealer has offered £43,000 but experts say the lump of hardened intestinal slurry from a sperm whale could be worth twice as much.

Ken, who is unemployed after hurting his back in a motorbike accident, said:“I didn’t actually realise what it was at first and couldn’t understand why Madge was so interested in it.

“It smelled horrible. I left it, came back home and looked it up on the internet.

When I saw how much it could be worth, I went back and grabbed it.

“It is like walking on the beach and finding a bag of £50,000 in cash."

Mr Wilman now plans to send a small sample of the rock to France to have it checked.

He added: “If he verifies it, it will be like winning the Lottery.”
Chris Hill, curator at the Aquarium of the Lakes in Newby Bridge, Cumbria, said: “It’s quite a find.

“How much it’s worth will depend on how fresh it is, but it’s potentially $180,000.

“There are places in Europe that will buy it from you. They will age it, like a fine wine, and then test it for perfume.”

Sperm whales eject the intestinal slurry into the ocean where it often floats in the water for years while it hardens and develops a distinctive odour.

In 2006 a couple walking on an Australian beach found a 32-pound chunk of ambergris, which netted them $295,000.

[kellyhound]

yea read of similar stories before. Not a bad idea to stroll the beach in the mornings once in a while and see if you get lucky.

[ices]

You know, someone, somewhere at sometime looked upon one of those and said "that shit smells!".

And then walked off leaving it behind.


Years later it dawns on them.

[K9Grip]

I love his face in the first pic!

[Darkest Angel]

Nice find!!
Good dog

[johnleeknoefler]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

yea read of similar stories before. Not a bad idea to stroll the beach in the mornings once in a while and see if you get lucky.

A couple of years ago I found a Mexican's wallet on the beach. It had about $88.00 of pesos and a five dollar bill. Then a couple weeks later I found another wallet that had about a hundred dollars in rotten twenty dollar bills. I had to use rubbing alcohol to keep them hydrated since they were so brittle. Then used tweezers to gently tease them apart. They were rotted completely in the center so I had to lay them between paper sheets and lay a book on top. It worked perfectly and the bank gave me back 5 new $20.00 bills. I walked that beach every Sunday for months and never got lucky again.

[Iliketurtles]

I doubt i even would think twice about seeing that on the beach..

[icheerthebull]

Yeah there was a story on here a few months ago but it was a kid who found it. Still can't believe whale sick is worth so much

[Bouncer]

His back looks really fucked what with him squatting in that shot.....anyone know the benefit fraud hotline?

[Seven Of Nine]

I hate knowing what goes into perfumes and cosmetics. I own one bottle of perfume, I've had it for about 4 or 5 years. I love the scent, just not ON someone. I find people use too much most of the time.