Surachet Chanchu was in the search of recyclable waste as he was walking along the sand in Songkhla, southern Thailand.
He noticed a waxy lump weighing 37 lbs that he thinks is valuable whale vomit worth more than half a million pounds.
He took the lump back to his home and his friends came to perform a test on the material by holding a cigarette lighter to it. It melted and gave a pleasant, musky smell which indicates that it was likely to be the prized ambergris.
Ambergris that have the best quality can sell for as much as £14,500($18k) for a 1 lb lump. If this one proved to be high-quality ambergris then it would benefit Surachet a lot. Surachet is now waiting for government officers to evaluate his discovery.
He said: ‘I saw the chunk washed ashore at the coastal rock when I was scavenging. I thought it looked like a whale vomit but I need someone who knows about it to come down and check.’
According to experts, lumps of ambergris can sometimes float in the ocean for more than 100 years. In October, a fisherman named Jumrus Thiachot, 55, found a 14 lbs lump of ambergris on the beach in Koh Samui also in southern Thailand.
‘’Ambergris is actually a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull grey or blackish color produced in the digestive system of sperm whales. Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor,’’ reported Wiki.
The vomit which is better known as ambergris, is a valuable resource used by perfume makers to help a scent last longer. It has been mostly known for its use in creating perfume and fragrance much like musk. You can still find perfumes with ambergris around the world. Its smell is described as being musky and having a sweet earthy aroma.
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