The beach has its share of treasure hunters and some of them strike it rich. A dog walker in Wales, England found a rare treasure - a huge slump of whale vomit.
Commonly known as 'ambergris', whale vomit was sold in an auction house in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England at $16,700 with two bidders fighting for it until the very end.
Interestingly, the two bidders were not even physically present in the room. One bid for the item is through the telephone while the other one bid on the Internet. The telephone bidder eventually won. Both the finder and the winning bidder decided to keep their identities private. The treasure was so rare that the finder didn't even disclose the name of the beach he found the ambergris.
The yellow and black ambergris was 20-centimeter long (7.86 inches) and weighed 1.1 kilograms (2.43 pounds). Prior to the auction, officials decided to have the item authenticated. Scientists said the ambergris had been underwater for almost 50 years and had been found near the Anglesey Island in North Wales.
The wax-like ambergris comes from a sperm whale's digestive system. When the wax-like substance surrounds an irritating object inside the whale's intestines, ambergris is formed. Scientists believe it is part of a whale's survival skills to protect its intestines from sharp objects, like a squid's beak, which is part of a sperm whale's diet. Ambergris is emitted either as a waste or vomit.
Auctioneer Adam Partridge expressed his delight when someone walked into the auction house carrying the smelly ambergris and asked him to sell the item. Senior valuer Chris Surfleet shared how the finder's dog ran to the object at the beach and wouldn't leave it. The dog's owner thought it was a light-colored rock until he realized it has a soft, wax-like structure. He took the object home and did a little research before going to the auction house.
"We've had lots of unusual items pass through the doors over the years, but this is by far the weirdest," added Partridge.
Disgusting as it may sound, ambergris is used to make perfume. Yes, whale vomit is used to improve and prolong the scent of your perfume. Ambergris is usually purchased privately for huge sums of money. The ambergris auction was the first of its kind in the world.
