Ambergris, sometimes called “whale vomit,” is used in expensive perfumes to make scents stick on the skin.
Patrick WilliamsonThe objective has n’t yet been tested , but appear to be ambergris .
Patrick Williamson was walk along the beach in Ayrshire , Scotland when his dog short cast off her ball and made a beeline for a unusual stone sit atop some seaweed . Williamson went to investigate the greyish - sensationalistic object and concluded that it was ambergris — known as hulk nauseant — a rare heart and soul that can fetch unconscionable prices .
“ I work on a sportfishing boat , so I screw what ambergris was . I ’ve never realize it before , but I ’ve heard stories about it , ” Williamson say according to theNew York Post . “ I was walk along Irvine Beach with the dog . I clocked something on the seaweed , and the dog ran over to it and drop her ball . She does n’t normally drop her musket ball , so I knew there was something there . ”
Patrick WilliamsonThe object hasn’t yet been tested, but appears to be ambergris.
Williamson picked up the rock - like object , which weighed about 5.5 Panthera uncia . Though he has n’t yet had the it professionally tested , Williamson think that it ’s a small piece ofambergris , a waxy substance found in the guts of sperm whales which is sometimes mention to as “ floating gold . ”
Wmpearl / Wikimedia CommonsAmbergris on display at Alaska ’s Skagway Museum .
Indeed , ambergris can bring in middle - watering prices when found . Small lump of it can deal for tens of one thousand of clam , and a group ofYemeni fisherman sell a 280 - pound clod of ambergris — which they encounter in the abdomen of a dead heavyweight — for whoop $ 1.5 million in 2021 .
Wmpearl/Wikimedia CommonsAmbergris on display at Alaska’s Skagway Museum.
That ’s because ambergris is a coveted ingredient used by high-pitched - end scent Godhead . National Geographicreports that scent makers like Chanel and Lanvin use ambergris because of how it cleave a scent to the cutis .
But though ambergris is used to make pleasant perfumes , its stock are in spades less delicate . Ambergris comes from the gut of spermatozoon whales .
Bernard Spragg / Wikimedia CommonsAmbergris come from the moxie of sperm whales , but scientists do n’t understand every whole tone of the process .
Bernard Spragg/Wikimedia CommonsAmbergris comes from the guts of sperm whales, but scientists don’t understand every step of the process.
Scientists do n’t understand everything about ambergris , but it appear that it ’s made when sperm giant eat squid . Since whales ca n’t condense the squid ’ beaks , they usually vomit them up . But sometimes , the beaks make it into the heavyweight ’s intestine , which triggers the ambergris mental process .
“ As a grow mass , [ the beaks ] are pushed farther along the intestines and become a tangled indigestible solid , saturated with feces , which begin to block the rectum , ” writer Christopher Kemp explained in his bookFloating Gold : A Natural ( and Unnatural ) story of Ambergris .
“ [ G]radually the feces saturating the pack hatful of squid nozzle becomes like cementum , hold the slurry together for good . ”
Ambergris is often referred to as “ whale vomit , ” but scientists think that it ’s credibly fecal matter . Some giant might be able to reset the ambergris slurry and swim aside , but others fail after the obstruction ruptures their rectum . Then , the ambergris makes its way onto the beach .
Williamson believes that he ’s determine such a chunk , but he has n’t yet confirmed the find . One way to determine if something is ambergris or rock is to heat up a needle and press it to the surface , since ambergris will quickly melt . Williamson says he has done this , but he plans to have the object professionally see out to see if it ’s truly ambergris or not .
“ We ’ve try it with a spicy phonograph needle , and it was doing the precise same thing that ambergris would , ” he explained . “ masses have been saying that I can take it to Glasgow University , and they ’ll test it – so I ’ll be doing that on my next day off . ”
In the meantime , Williamson and his hound will keep their eyes out for chunks of strange rock music on the beach . After all , ambergris can be an super lucrative discovery for anyone who stumbles across it .
“ I ’m on the beaches all the prison term , ” Williamson said . “ I take my dog with me wherever I go , so we ’ll be looking every time we put down now . ”
After reading about how a Scotsman and his dog allegedly discovered a chunk of ambergris , or giant puke , while walk on the beach , find the bizarre tale ofOregon ’s explode hulk . Or , see how a beachcomber in Maryland stumbled across a12 - million - year - old whale skull .
