Fisherman’s dog picked up a ‘disgusting blob’ on the beach — then a test revealed it was possibly worth millions
A fisherman’s serene walk on the beach transformed into a treasure hunt soon after his dog picked up a “disgusting” blob that had washed ashore. Patrick Williamson, a 37-year-old fisherman, is now weighing his fortune following a test that confirmed the mysterious rock’s true worth. His dog's surprise find, a solidified chunk of whale vomit, is sold in millions. Given his profession, Williamson is well aware of the blob of whale vomit and plans to get it tested by scientists before deciding whether to cash in.
Williamson did not expect to strike gold during a casual stroll with his dog on Irvine Beach in Ayrshire. He recalled spotting the chunk of whale vomit in an interview with South West News Service, as reported by the New York Post. His dog’s strange behavior urged him to investigate what he stumbled on. “I clocked something on the seaweed, and the dog ran over to it and dropped her ball. She doesn’t usually drop her ball, so I knew there was something there,” the fisherman said. The blob, which resembles a stone, is called ambergris, a raw material of great demand in the beauty industry. Its texture and color intrigued Williamson, so he decided to take it home.
Still unsure about it, the fisherman first tested the chunk himself. He put a hot needle on the surface to check if it would melt like ambergris. A rock would remain unaffected. Fortunately, the blob did melt. “It was doing the exact same thing that ambergris would,” he noted. The chunk weighed about 0.34 pounds, a fairly small size. “That’s not really that big compared to some other bits that have been found,” Williamson said. Previous records show that people have recovered huge chunks of ambergris worth thousands of dollars. A 21-pound ambergris was found in the Canary Islands, valued at $500,000. Whereas in 2021, a 280-pound nugget was recovered by fishermen, estimated at $1.5 million.
Therefore, Williamson does not have high hopes about the check he might receive for his find, but feels overwhelmed by all the attention he’s been getting. “Everybody’s been messaging me–one of my pals even contacted someone at the local paper. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it!” He plans to head to Glasgow University on his next day off to test the ambergris with precision. However, the endeavor has opened new doors for the fisherman and his pup. “I’m on the beaches all the time. I take my dog with me wherever I go, so we’ll be looking every time we land now.”
According to the Natural History Museum, sperm whales produce ambergris when they eat large quantities of squid and cuttlefish. The indigestible parts of the prey–the beaks and pens–are usually vomited out. In rare cases, they get stuck in the whale’s intestines and bind together, growing into a solid mass of ambergris for years. Ambergris is believed to protect the whale’s internal organs from the sharp squid beaks. As per reports, only 1% of sperm whales are capable of secreting ambergris, though. The substance has found significance in the perfume industry because it allows scent to be attached to human skin.