Alltop.com

Who hasn’t picked up an object off the sand that struck their fancy: A pretty piece of glass, a beautiful shell, a stray syringe, a chunk of whale vomit?

Wait, what?

It’s no chest of gold coins, but for one lucky British eight-year-old, it might as well be. What he and his family thought was a odd rock is actually rare whale vomit, a prized ingredient of perfumes.

Decades of floating and exposure to sun and salt have turned the substance, technically called ambergris, into a smooth lump of compact rock which feels waxy and has a sweet smell.

Valued at approximately $10,000 per pound, his parents are doubtless thankful they made room for the six pounds of puke in the car.

Full story at Technabob via Daily Mail.

Never wearing perfume again.