More ambergris washes up
Another load of ambergris was found recently by Melissa Cathcart, a young British girl who was vacationing on a beach in Wales in the United Kingdom. The lump was reportedly valued at between $6,000-$7,000. It is currently unclear whether Cathcart will be able to profit from her rare find. You may remember our previous report on an Australian couple who found a much larger hunk of ambergris worth in excess of $300,000. In that case, the couple was unable to sell it commercially since Australian law prohibits trading in whale products of any kind.
- Girl in Wales finds lucky whale vomit - UPI
- A Whale-y sick fortune - icWales.co.uk
August 22nd, 2006 at 8:47 am
Its worth pointing out that Wales is not in England as claimed in this article, it is in fact an entirely separate and individual country, much like the relationship between Canada and the USA.
August 22nd, 2006 at 9:06 am
Thank you for the clarification! We’ve updated the article accordingly. In case others are interested, here’s a great Wikipedia page with more info on this topic than most would ever care to read.
August 24th, 2006 at 10:10 am
And now, even more ambergris has been found on British shores!
August 26th, 2006 at 7:40 am
we seem to have found ambergris we have carried out preliminary tests and it seems genuine.we are writing to you for information on what to do from here , ie who to sell it to . any information would be greatly recieved.
October 20th, 2006 at 6:10 pm
I love your news site. Writing from Fresno California, USA.
Mr. Hughes actually sent me some of his ambergris! It was waterlogged, shrank to half its size when dry, and took on a consistency of dried cardboard once it shriveled. It also did not melt around a heated needle, the hallmark test for real ambergris. Nor did it dissolve in alcohol. It is ironic that he came to this site for advice on how to sell his flotsam and then argued how much he knew about the topic. He actually had to ask me what I wanted to use it for when I bought it! Such a waste of time, considering I work as a nurse on a cancer ward and had to work for four hours to earn money to send Mr. Thomas Huges of Manchester!
October 24th, 2006 at 1:56 am
I also tried a sample of Mr Hughes find & believe it to be human in origin probably from a nearby sewage outfall.
January 27th, 2007 at 9:41 am
sorry chris,
wales is part of England, it is not a seperate country, it is in-fact a Principality. I live in wales and always thought it was a seperate country, however i now know this is not the case.
have fun!