Main image via Daily Mail
While vomit may be gross and disgusting, there’s one vomit that’s worth millions.
Whale vomit.
via GIPHY
Recently, a fisherman was taking a walk along the Laem Thalumphuk beach in Thailand when he stumbled upon one of the biggest chunk of whale vomit.
Narit Suwansang didn’t know that the beige mineral-like object that he found was actually ambergris aka whale vomit, which is a highly valuable substance especially in the perfume industry.
The huge chunk weighed up to 100kg and is said to be one of the heaviest finds ever recorded. The 60-year-old fisherman returned home to get help from his family members to carry the strange object he found.
Image via Daily Mail
Narit was curious to find out what it was exactly that he had found and he turned to Google for the answers. When the results showed that it could be whale vomit, the fisherman tested the mass but bringing a lighter to it. When the substance went waxy like a candle, he realised that it was indeed ambergris.
According to Narit, he was contacted by a businessman who offered him 960,000 Thai baht (RM129,400) per kg – depending on the quality of his find, making his total whale vomit worth 96,000,000 Thai baht (RM12.9 million)!
Image via Daily Mail
“The businessman told me that he will come to check the quality of the ambergris later and the price shocked me,” said the fisherman who earns around RM2,712 a month.
“I could receive around 960,000THB (RM129,400) per kilogram if the ambergris I found is the best grade,” he added. “I want to know more about this ambergris and want the specialist to inspect them.”
Besides sending his find to a speacialist, Narit also shared that he intends to record his discovery with the police so that there is some record of it being in his possession, in case some tries to steal the whale vomit.
“I also plan to go to the police and have them record my discover as I feared that they might be stolen from my house,” he said.
Image via Daily Mail
Ambergis is formed from a secretion of the bile duct in the intestines of the sperm whale and it gets its high value from an odourless alcohol called ambrein that is extracted from the substance.
The ambrein is used by perfume makers – particularly high-end perfume makers; to make a perfume’s scent last longer.
via GIPHY
BRB, going to the beach to look for whale vomit.
Have you ever come across something that looks like whale vomit before? Let us know!
Info via Daily Mail + The Smart Local