Treasure worth 500,000 euros found inside dead sperm whale

Spanish biologists discovered inside a dead sperm whale is a clot of ambergris, which is also called floating gold or the holy grail of perfumers. This is a rare and very expensive substance.

The real treasure was found by the head of the Institute of Animal Health and Food Security of the University of Las Palmas, Antonio Fernandez Rodriguez. He studied the carcass to determine the cause of death of a marine mammal that washed ashore on the Canary island of La Palma.

During his research, the scientist took out from the colon something similar to a stone with a diameter of 50-60 centimeters and a weight of 9.5 kilograms. As it turned out, it was ambergris. Such a piece of this substance costs about 500 thousand euros (≈50 million rubles). Now the institute wants to sell the find, and use the proceeds for it to help the victims of the volcanic eruption on La Palma in 2021.

Ambergris has a woody scent and contains ambrein, which can prolong the life of scents. Hence its popularity among perfumers.

It is produced in the intestines of sperm whales, but not in all - in about one individual out of a hundred. These mammals eat a lot of squid and cuttlefish, most of which are indigestible. Then the mollusks accumulate in the stomach and over the years form ambergris.

Most often, it leaves the body naturally, so it is usually mined in the sea. But sometimes, as in the case of this whale, the clot becomes too large, ruptures the intestines and kills the animal.