$544,000 Worth of Treasure Found Inside a Dead Whale
A rare find in the belly of a beached sperm whale stirs excitement and raises questions about the perfume industry's "floating gold
In an astonishing twist of fate, a routine inspection of a deceased sperm whale on Nogales Beach in the Canary Islands led to the discovery of a 21-pound lump of ambergris, a rare and highly prized substance with an estimated value of $544,000. Antonio Fernández, a professor at the University of Las Palmas, made the remarkable find during an examination of the whale's intestines on May 21, capturing the attention of both the scientific community and the wider public.
Ambergris, often referred to as "floating gold" or the "treasure of the sea," is a secretion produced in the digestive systems of sperm whales. Its scarcity and distinctive odo...