A dog walker found a foul smelling rocky substance on the beach, which he realized was rare "whale vomit" weighing approximately 7 pounds (3 kilograms) that could fetch him as much as $180,000, reports the Telegraph.
Ken Wilman, while he was walking his boxer dog Madge on Morecambe beach, was lucky enough to spot the rare "whale vomit," which is a very important ingredient used in perfumes and is also very valuable.
The whale vomit otherwise known as "ambergris" is ejected by sperm whales when they suffer from stomach or throat problem. The ejected substance is initially soft and stinking, but once it is exposed to sun and ocean for months and years, it develops a sweet, marine, earthy scent and hardens and develops a waxy surface.
Wilman is currently unemployed after hurting his back in a bike accident but finding the ambergris is "like winning the Lottery," he said.
"I didn't actually realise what it was at first and couldn't understand why Madge was so interested in it," Wilman said. "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."
A French buyer has offered Wilman £43,000 ($60,086) but he has sent a sample to France to verify, if it turns out to be ambergris experts suggest it will be twice as much as the offer made to Wilman.
Chris Hill, curator at the Aquarium of the Lakes in Cumbria estimated its value to be $180,000 depending on how fresh it is.
"There are places in Europe that will buy it from you," Hill told The Telegraph. "They will age it, like a fine wine, and then test it for perfume."
