Kids Strike It Rich With $200K Lump Of Whale Vomit On The Beach

Two boys poking around in the surf just scored what could be the find of a lifetime, a giant chunk of whale puke worth as much as $200,000.The short video making the rounds shows the kids, one in a brown tee and red slides, the other in a pale shirt, bent over in ankle-deep water next to some rocks. They grab, lift and inspect a big, lumpy, brownish-waxy blob that looks like it belongs in a science-fiction movie rather than on a family beach day.

Turns out that blob is likely ambergris, the rare, hardened gunk that forms in the guts of sperm whales. The whales cough or poop it out, it floats around the ocean for years, and every once in a while it washes up looking like treasure.

Perfume makers go crazy for the stuff. It acts as a fixative that makes fancy scents last longer on your skin. High-grade pieces can fetch tens of thousands of dollars per kilo. A chunk the size of the one these kids are manhandling could easily hit six figures depending on weight and quality.

The boys in the clip treat it like any other weird beach rock at first, turning it over and trying to pick it up together. No screaming, no running to mom — just two kids who may have just funded their college funds without even knowing it.

Ambergris finds pop up every few years and usually come with the same story: somebody walking the shoreline, spots something that looks like coral or a melted candle, and suddenly they’re talking to perfume houses and wildlife officials. Some countries ban the trade because sperm whales are protected. Others treat it like winning the lottery.