Couple find whale vomit 'worth £50k' on Lancashire beach

A couple has found a large lump of whale vomit on a Lancashire beach - that could be worth £50,000.

Gary and Angela Williams, from Overton, were walking along Middleton Sands beach near Morecambe Bay when they smelled rotting fish.

See also: Whale vomit found on Anglesey beach sold for £11k at auction

See also: Man who found 'whale vomit worth £100k' told it's worthless

They followed the aroma and found the large smelly 'rock'. They had previously read about how whale vomit, known as ambergris, can be worth a lot of money as it is used in perfume making.

So they wrapped up the lump and took it home.

They are currently in negotiations to sell the waxy lump, which is roughly the a size of a rugby ball.

According to the Metro, Gary, 48, said: "It was a bit of a shock. It was down a section of the beach where no-one really walks.

It smells too bad though. It's a very distinctive smell, like a cross between squid and farmyard manure."

The Mirror reports that he added: "It feels like a rock hard rubber ball. Its texture is like wax, like a candle.

"When you touch it you get wax sticking to your fingers."

"If it is worth a lot of money, it will go a long way towards buying us a static caravan. It would be a dream come true."

The lump they discovered weighed 1.57 kg, which is roughly half the weight of a lump found in the same location in 2013 that sold for £120,000.

As ambergris ages, it develops a sweet smell, and his highly prized in the perfume industry.

It is thought to protect the animal from any hard and sharp objects it may eat.

It is made of hardened intestinal slurry from a sperm whale and can take years to form, which makes it extremely rare, and therefore even more valuable.