Eight-year-old Charlie Naysmith of Dorset, in southern England, (pictured – courtesy of Bournemouth Echo), was on the beach a few days ago, and found what he thought was a yellow rock about the size of a loaf of bread. He and his family thought it looked strange, so they researched it.
And they found it wasn’t a rock…it was a chunk of dried whale vomit, which is apparently worth a FORTUNE. Charlie’s lump of whale vomit is estimated at $63,000.
So why is whale upchuck so valuable? Whale vomit – known in classier circles as ambergris – is a key ingredient in expensive perfumes; it has a unique, delicate smell, and works like an aphrodisiac, which means it can’t be properly replicated just through chemicals. You need the real thing.
So without good whale vomit, you’re not going to have a good perfume. But whale vomit is hard to find, meaning Charlie’s chunk isn’t only valuable, it’s rare, too.
He says he hopes to sell it and use the money to build an animal shelter.
Source: NBC News
