Man finds valuable whale vomit on beach

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MORECAMBE, England, Jan. 31 (UPI) -- A British man said he was walking his dog on the beach when the canine discovered a lump of whale vomit -- also known as ambergris -- worth some $158,550.

Ken Wilman said his boxer, Madge, discovered the smelly lump on a Morecambe, England, beach and an online search identified the 6-pound object as ambergris, an ingredient in perfume that could be worth as much as $158,550, The Mirror reported Thursday.

"It smelled horrible. I left it, came back home and looked it up on the Internet," Wilman said. "When I saw how much it could be worth, I went back and grabbed it. It is like walking on the beach and finding a bag of 50,000 pounds [$79,275] in cash."

Wilman said he will send a sample of the lump to France to verify it is authentic ambergris, vomit from a sperm whale.