'Whale 'vomit' sparks cash bonanza.' BBC.
An Australian couple who picked up an odd-looking fatty lump from a quiet beach are in line for a cash windfall.
Leon Wright and his wife took home a 14.75kg lump of ambergris, found in the innards of sperm whales
and used in perfumes after it has been vomited up.
Sought after because of its rarity, ambergris can float on the ocean for years before washing ashore.
Worth up to $20 a gram, Mr Wright's find on a South Australian beach could net his family US$295,000 (£165,300).
Floating gold ? ...............................
Mythologised for thousands of years, ambergris has been referred to as "floating gold" by scientists and scavengers
who long for a windfall amid the surf.
Expelled from the abdomen of the giant sperm whale, often while hundreds of kilometres away from land,
ambergris is a natural excrement thought to be used by the whale as a digestion aid. After 10 years, it's
considered clean and all you're getting then is the wonderful musky, very sweet perfume, which I've
got to say is ultra smooth - it's unbelievable."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/4642722.stm
I'm off to the Thames with my shrimping-net !
