Lump of whale poop will make dog walker rich
A man walking his dog on the beach in Anglesey in north Wales stumbled across what looked like a piece of rock. In fact, it's an incredibly rare chunk of whalepoop, and it will earn him at least £7,000 when it is sold at auction.
The substance looks like a rock, but feels waxy, and smells terrible. The walker was alerted to the unusual discovery by the fact that his dog wouldn't leave it alone. When he picked it up he realised it was too light to be a rock, and too waxy and smelly to be anything else he recognised.
He took it home, looked it up, and discovered it was ambergris. It is produced in the intestines of sperm whales to protect them from the beaks of squid that make up a large part of their diet. It's popularly known as whale vomit, but tends to be pooped out by the whale.
It then floats in the sea for years, hardening in the sun. The newer is it, the worse it smells, until over time it begins to smell earthy and sweet.
It is used by the perfume industry to make scents last longer. Its rarity means it is incredible valuable and sold by the ounce. Adam Partridge Auctioneers, which is handling the sale, said bids will start at £7,000 on 25 September.
Fortune on a beach?
He's not the first to stumble across his fortune in poop on a beach. In 2012, eight-year-old Charlie Naysmith found a 600g piece on the beach at Hengistbury Head, near Bournemouth. The piece was estimated to be worth around £40,000. He said he wanted to use the money to build an animal shelter.
However, before you hit the beach in search of your fortune, it's worth being aware of how incredibly rare this is. Two of the most high-profile finds of recent years have turned out to be worthless. The first was another discovery in Anglesey, which turned out to be a piece of rubber.
The second was in January 2013, when a dog walker in Morecambe found a much larger 7lb piece of what he thought was ambergris. He was offered £43,000 if the rock proved to be the real thing. However, after hitting the headlines around the world, he sent off a sample and was told it wasn't ambergris after-all - just a worthless chunk of wax.
If you're determined to hunt the beach for your fortune, you might be better popping along with a metal detector after a sunny day. Detectorists are unlikely to stumble across a find worth thousands, but longer-term treasure hunters can find coins and jewellery worth a total of £1,000 over the years - lost by sun-seekers on a day out.
Treasure hunting on AOL Money
Incredible secret hidden under kitchen cupboard
Treasure hoard sunk by Nazis discovered by divers
Can you break the code and win $3 million?
