Adapted from an article on www.news.bbc.co.uk                           24th January 2006

An Australian couple who picked up an odd-looking fatty lump from a quiet beach are in line for a cash windfall. This lump turned to be a 14.75kg lump of ambergris, found in the innards of sperm whales, vomited up and used in perfumes.

Sought after because of its rarity, ambergris can float on the ocean for years before washing ashore. Worth up to $20 a gram, the find could net the finders £165,300. Ambergris has been referred to as "floating gold" by scientists and scavengers who long for a windfall amid the surf.

Expelled from the abdomen of the giant sperm whale, often while hundreds of kilometres away from land, ambergris is a natural excrement thought to be used by the whale as a digestion aid. The hard beaks of giant squid, a main source of food for the whale, have often been found inside lumps of ambergris.

Initially, ambergris is a soft, foul-smelling waste matter that floats on the ocean. But years of exposure to the sun and the salt water of the ocean transform the waste into a smooth, exotic lump of compact rock that boasts a waxy feel and a sweet, alluring smell.

"It's quite remarkable when you think about it, because when the whale throws this out, it's discarded material that they can't digest," marine ecologist Ken Jury explained.

"[But] after 10 years, it's considered clean and all you're getting then is the wonderful musky, very sweet perfume, which I've got to say is ultra smooth - it's unbelievable."

     SIMPLY THE BEST - THAT'S THE SEA CADETS !