Couple set to make up to $100,000 on a lump of whale vomit they found on a UK beach

A couple who picked up a smelly rubbery rock on the beach are celebrating after discovering it was a lump of whale vomit — worth a potential $100,000.Gary and Angela Williams were strolling along Middleton Sands beach near Morecambe Bay in Lancashire when they smelled rotting fish.They followed the stench and spotted an unusual looking ‘rock’ near the water’s edge which looked like a piece of ambergris  or ‘whale vomit’they once saw in a newspaper.

The highly-prized substance is used in the manufacture of perfume.The couple, from Overton in Lancashire wrapped the waxy lump in a scarf and took it home.Mr Williams, 48, put it on his fishing scales and found it weighed 1.57kg — just over half the size of a lump also found near Morecambe which was valued at $140,000 in 2013.The couple are now in negotiations with potential buyers over the lump which is slightly smaller than a rugby ball.

Ambergris is hardened intestinal slurry from a sperm whale, which takes years to form. It is thought to protect the animal from hard and sharp objects it eats.It is dubbed ‘floating gold’ due to its high value to perfume makers and is very rare.

It can float in the ocean for years before washing ashore and years of exposure to the sun and salt water transform it into a smooth, grey, lump of compact waxy rock.Mr Williams, an engineer, said: “It was a bit of a shock. It was down a section of the beach where no one really walks.It smells too bad though. It’s a very distinctive smell, like a cross between squid and farmyard manure.

It feels like a rock hard rubber ball. Its texture is like wax, like a candle.When you touch it you get wax sticking to your fingers.He added: “If it is worth a lot of money it will go a long way towards buying us a static caravan, it would be a dream come true.Gary and Angela Williams often scour the beach for unusual items when they go for walks and spotted the 1.57kg ambergris on Sunday.