Geekologie I Watch Stuff The Superficial

8-Year Old Finds $60,000 Piece Of Whale Vomit On Beach

August 30, 2012 / animals, dammit why can't i find something like that and change my life, even better than pirate treasure (i kid -- nothing's better than pirate treasure), expensive, good find!, holy smokes, it can also come out the butthole too just so we're clear -- it's not ALWAYS barfed up, it's practically gold!, man i wonder how many times i've passed up a piece of valuable whale vom thinking it was just a rock?, perfume, smells, viral

kid-with-ambergris.jpg

Seen here holding a chunk of puke, 8-year old Charlie Naysmith proudly displays the 600-gram (~1.3 pound) piece of ambergris he found washed up on a British beach. WTF is ambergris and why is it worth a fortune? Let's get our learn on, shall we? (We shall is the thing!)

Ambergris is a solid, waxy, flammable substance of a dull gray or blackish color produced in the digestive system of and regurgitated or secreted by sperm whales.


Freshly produced ambergris has a marine, fecal odor. However, as it ages, it acquires a sweet, earthy scent commonly likened to the fragrance of rubbing alcohol without the vaporous chemical astringency. The principal historical use of ambergris was as a fixative in perfumery, though it has now been largely displaced by synthetics.

So yeah, oldschool perfume makers will pay top dollar for the stuff to make their scents last longer. It's basically disgusting, disgusting treasure. To the beach! *hours later, dumping bag of finds on table* Are any of these ambergris? "Nope, all rocks." Damn -- and this? "That's a condom." You sure? I thought it was a jellyfish.

Thanks to Thel200ster, Dunc and Rndm Hero, who have already started mixing up the biggest batch of syrup of ipecac the world has ever seen. That's the stuff that makes you puke. Well of course it's not funny if you have to explain it.

There are Comments
  • CBark

    Wow, I wonder how many people are searching beaches for this stuff now...

  • C. Price

    Just thought would point out, it actually comes out of the back end, not the front. Tut tut, check your facts!

  • NoveltyFishHead

    Well well well what a lucky find, let's just hope this funding is done within good means such as the kid's education (and even some family fun on the side) for the present and future. Common folks, this kid looks like he has some intelligent folks who care about him and his future.

  • abackstrom

    I learned about ambergris from Encyclopedia Brown books. YA literature today is severely lacking in stories about whale vomit (I assume).

  • Girgear

    Haha! Me too! Shows my age I guess.

  • 8-year old finds $60000 piece of sperm. Whale, whale, Whale... what do we have here?

  • Ingledsva

    I hope someone steps in and makes them put the money away for the child - rather then letting the parents spend the money!

  • BillGatesIsYourDaddy

    8 years old...parents have full claim to that money to spend as they see fit. Mom will blow it on alcohol and shoes, dad will go to Vegas and snort coke off a hooker's ass.

  • Precious hamburgers?

  • Colorless82

    Looks like a mexican omelette. I call fake!

  • Larry Olson

    Kids don't need that kind of money. Slap the little shit senseless and grab his whale vomit already.

  • Isn't nature wonderful.

  • Guest

    College fund found on beach. Now the kid is set for the future.

  • Closet Nerd

    I knew what ambergris was from watching Futurama..... just sayin

  • NoveltyFishHead

    I was curious to swim along mammals that time...and got covered in the stuff. ;)
    At least it didn't smell like a party night that time. That's how I learned about this wild stuff.

  • yes!

  • I read about ambergris a couple of years ago. It's the "treasures" of the sea, since it's more worth than gold they claimed.

  • BillGatesIsYourDaddy

    how in the hell do I find this ambergris stuff? or a better question is how do you make a whale throw-up?

  • You stick your fingers down it's throat.

blog comments powered by Disqus