They say one man's trash is another man's treasure. This couldn't be more true for a Lancashire couple, Gary and Angela Williams, who struck gold while out on the beach for their usual stroll. If you're thinking that they stumbled upon a chest of lost treasure like we usually see in the movies, you couldn't be farther from the truth.

In fact, what they found was so unusual and ordinary-looking that no one could have ever guessed its true worth! Curious to know what the foul-smelling object actually was, they wrapped it in a scarf and brought it home. What they were about to discover would change their destiny forever.

A Nice Day For A Walk

The story begins in the spring of 2016. With winter months behind, the days were getting longer making way for warmer weather. Sure, it wasn’t quite the best time of the year to soak up the sun on the beach but it was good enough for the Williamses to go on a walk.

After all, they didn’t have to go far to enjoy the fresh breeze coming from the Morecambe Bay and the Irish Sea. The couple, who lives in the village of Overton in Lancashire, England, picked the nearby Middleton Sands beach that fateful day. And they couldn’t have made a better choice.

Local Attraction

The spot boasts stunning seaside landscapes and plenty of picturesque spots to explore. By looking at the photos of Middleton Sands beach, you’ll notice that it has its fair share of rocky, grassy, and fine sand areas. No wonder so many people chose to build their homes located alongside its strip.

And while you won’t find 5-star hotels here, tourists have their choice of cozy cottages to stay in. Meanwhile, popular activities around the area are hiking, cycling, and, of course, good old strolling -- which was exactly what Gary and Angela had in mind when they set out for Middleton Sands beach.

Catching A Whiff Of Something Strange

People find all kinds of things on the beach. There’s actually a whole hobby, called beachcombing, that’s dedicated to searching for everything from valuable trinkets to precious metals that found their way ashore.

But what was supposed to be a relaxing stroll by the beach took an unusual turn when Gary and Angela Williams caught a whiff of something foul-smelling. The couple weren’t exactly looking for gold when they came upon a strange rock. An article from the Mirror quotes Gary describing the odor as something that was very distinct like a cross between farmyard manure and squid as well as rotten fish.

Tracking Down The Source

Now, it isn’t out of the ordinary to encounter different smells while out in nature. Reports of a rotten egg-like stench along two coastal cities in California even led to an investigation in 2018. However, authorities weren’t able to pin down the source of the odor in that case.

Gary is lucky to be able to find the source of the foul smell almost right away though. Following the stench in the less-frequented area of the beach they were walking on, the couple was able to track it down to a lump of an unidentified object lying on the ground.

Casual Beachcombers

That's when they confirmed that the odor wasn't caused by fish. From a distance, it looked like any other rock you might expect to see on the beach. It was grey, textured, and near the size of a rugby ball, not at all out of place except for the hard-to-ignore odor seemingly emanating from it.

Their curiosity led them to walk closer to the rock-like object and find out more about it. This move isn’t out of character at all, according to Mirror reports, as Gary and Angela are known to comb the beach for uncommon items while out for walks.

The Couple Gets A Closer Look

Gary, who is an engineer, eventually bent down to inspect the rock, curious as to what it was. According to an International Business Times report, the object felt like a hard rubber ball with a wax-like texture that was so sticky that some of it transferred to his fingers upon touching.

The strange rock’s waxy characteristic isn’t at all unheard of. For example, the SAHRA research foundation at the University of Arizona associates the same kind of waxy luster to chert and serpentinite. However, neither of the two rocks is totally similar to the one Gary and Angela found, in chemical composition or value.

A Very Distinct Stench

There’s also the fact that rocks don't really have a distinct smell of their own. In fact, the odor isn’t typically what geologists primarily use to describe these mineral properties. There are certain rocks that do have a scent. Arsenic ores, for example, can emit a garlic-like smell when heated, for example, none of them seem to fit Gary’s distinct description of what he encountered at the beach.

Not even antozonite, which the scientific journal Nature described as ‘smelly’, has been associated with the scent of squid or farmyard manure. The only thing Gary was certain of at the time was that the rock he found didn’t smell pleasant at all.

A Tough Decision To Make

Still, the couple pondered on whether or not they should take the foul-smelling rock with them. This may sound weird to some. Why would someone risk stinking up their home to keep such a strange object, right? Well, science might have the explanation: benign masochism.

National Geographic explains that people can enjoy things they logically shouldn’t, like spicy food or gross smells, because they are thrilling yet safe. A good case in point is the people who flock to see the corpse flower, a plant that has an odor likened to decomposing bodies.

The Couple Takes A Risk

There might be a simpler explanation for Gary and Angela’s ultimate decision to take the rock though. Apparently, the couple realized that their finding was quite similar to something they read about in the papers. So, even though they weren’t certain of anything yet, they made up their mind to keep the rock.

Their willingness to take a risk is quite understandable. You might have heard the news of other people who found unusual things washed up on the beach from something as common as a box of cigarettes to valuable artifacts like a 180 million-year-old fossil, which was also found along the East Yorkshire coast.

Once-In-A-Lifetime Opportunity

What’s more, if Gary and Angela’s suspicions prove to be correct, they might find themselves tens of thousands of dollars richer depending on what price the rock would fetch. Although that potential payout isn’t as large as what they’d take home had they won the lottery, it still amounts to considerable earnings.

Of course, it also isn’t every day that they encounter this kind of opportunity. So, you can say that tolerating the horrid smell of the rock is only a minor inconvenience considering the benefits that the best-case scenario would bring them.

Wrapping Up The Find

The couple got ready to haul the rock home after the discovery. Gary ended up using his wife’s scarf to wrap it up, perhaps to protect it from any damage -- and probably to contain its foul smell.

It was also a  smart precaution to take given that not all rocks are harmless. For example, the mineral pyrite earned the name fool’s gold due to its resemblance to the precious metal. It has duped many miners before and is now posing challenges due to something called pyrite ‘disease’, an infection that can also be hazardous to people’s health.

The Couple Investigates Further

Once back home, Gary and Angela set out to determine what the rock actually was. After weighing the object using fishing scales, they found out that the mound weighed about 3.46 pounds. But with that out of the way, there was still more to find out about the mysterious rock.

With Gary being an engineer and Angela being a nurse, the couple had some background in science. However, neither of them were knowledgeable enough to solve the puzzle on their own. But at that point, they suspected that what they brought home was a very valuable substance called ambergris.

The Origins of Ambergris

If you’re hearing about ambergris for the first time, then you’re in for an interesting read. The substance is not a rock at all but a by-product found in the intestines of a whale. Its name is said to be derived from the Old French ‘ambre gris’ which directly translates to gray amber, according to the Collins English Dictionary. 

Ambergris is often able to float in water for years, eventually washing up on a shore, waiting to be discovered by a lucky beachcomber. The Encyclopedia Britannica pinpoints the coasts of places like Japan, China, the Americas, and Africa as the most common location where ambergris washes up. 

Is It Really ‘Whale Vomit’?

Due to its origins, ambergris is sometimes called whale vomit as well. Some experts like Richard Sabin, a curator at the Natural History Museum in London, doesn't believe that whales actually expel the gray matter through regurgitation.

He suggests that ambergris is released along with fecal matter and then forms an obstruction in the animal’s rectum. Some experts believe that ambergris mass is passed, later on. But others have a more horrific theory: the obstruction is only expelled when it grows large enough to rupture the whale’s rectal area. However, according to whalefacts.org, regurgitation is not uncommon in whales.

Uses Of Ambergris

Despite its horrible smell, the substance has been in-demand for centuries. In fact, there’s evidence that humans were already using ambergris as far back as a thousand years ago. Among its most known applications is in the fields of perfumery and medicine with stark differences between the East and the West.

Ambergris is often used as a fixative in fragrances to prevent them from evaporating and has its own distinct smell that doesn't compare to anything else. Several eastern cultures also use it in potions and other medicinal concoctions. Some even crush it up and use it as a spice.

Coveted Creatures

Part of what makes ambergris special to many people is its rarity. For starters, it’s believed that only sperm whales, which are found in all of the world’s oceans, produce the coveted substance thanks to their squid-based diet. This is probably why Gary noticed an unmistakable squid scent wafting from the substance he found.

Commercial whalers have been hunting sperm whales for centuries primarily for sperm oil, spermaceti, and ambergris if pieces of it are found. In fact, it’s speculated that the white whale mentioned in Herman Melville’s famous novel Moby Dick is actually a white sperm whale.

Endangered Species

Due to the history of whale hunting, sperm whales are still listed as an endangered species in the US. The American Cetacean Society estimates that about 1.1 million of them existed in the world before they were hunted down to their current 300,000 population.

Fortunately, the killing of these creatures for commercial purposes has been outlawed internationally in the ‘80s thanks to animal protection advocates. This is part of the reason why ambergris has become even rarer. However, there are still some countries that continue to practice hunting to this day.

A Rare Find

Aside from better protection laws and the process in which ambergris is created, another contributing factor to its rarity is the belief that only 1% of sperm whales actually produce the substance. In fact, it’s so rare that even experts who have been studying whales for years haven’t seen ambergris themselves.

Not even finding a washed-up sperm whale carcass would guarantee that you’d find ambergris among the remains. According to the Natural History Museum in London, the substance is recovered from only 5% of these carcasses. And yet, this elusiveness seemingly only made people all the more keen to get their hands on the whale by-product.

At The Right Place, At The Right Time

In 2019, a poor fisherman from Thailand discovered a giant 6.5kg piece of whale vomit on the beach of Koh Samui. He suspected that the substance he had stumbled upon was ambergris, but since he wasn't sure, he hit the massive rock-like structure in his garage and continued earning his measly daily wage of 400 baht ($13.2).

Later, he contacted the Thai authorities to check if his find was of any value, and received confirmation from the Provincial governor Witchawuth Jinto (seen in the photo) that the piece of rock was indeed ambergris worth up to $350K.

A Place to Seek Confirmation

Unfortunately, not everyone who has an interest in ambergris can participate in the finding and trading of it. The US and Australia currently ban the trading and mere possession of the rare substance. So, Gary and Angela are definitely lucky to find a piece of ambergris in a place where it’s legal to salvage it.

However, people who cultivate an interest in ambergris can continue doing so within the bounds of the law. A quick search on Facebook leads to several groups that are dedicated to discussing, identifying, and sharing ambergris finds with other enthusiasts. One public group with over 3.6K members even lists its location in London.

Meteor Or Whale Vomit?

While going to an expert is still the better choice, asking for insights from ambergris-oriented Facebook groups could help in eliminating other possibilities. You see, the whale by-product may look or feel like your run-of-the-mill rocks depending on its age and condition.

Posting a photo of what you suspect to be valuable ambergris would allow others, who might have handled the rare substance, to give you their informed opinion. They might just be able to tell whether an object you found is just volcanic rock, fragments of a meteor, or the real deal.

Putting The Rock To Test

One of the tests that both ambergris experts and enthusiasts suggest is something called the hot needle test. This involves warming up a metal needle and then laying it flat on the surface of a supposed ambergris piece. What the needle leaves behind once removed will determine a substance’s authenticity.

Due to ambergris’ wax-like quality, a real one would melt at the touch of the heated needle and leave a sticky black or amber-colored residue. This spells good news for Gary and Angela who observed a similar sticky characteristic in the substance they found at the beach.

Eliminating Other Possibilities

Aside from the hot needle test, beachcombers can determine whether their find is the real deal based on other criteria. Genuine ambergris typically has a smooth surface and a round shape due to it floating in the water for a long time. Its color rarely strays from dull earth tones and black.

And lastly, doing something called the magnet test can eliminate any other possibilities. This is typically done to ascertain whether a piece of material is made of gold. Moreover, it helps in revealing what kind of elements are in an object without taking it apart or sending it to a lab.

The Magnet Test

The next thing the couple did was perform a home test with a magnet to ensure that the substance they had found wasn't just an ordinary rock or a meteorite. If the substance was really whale vomit, it would not attract the magnet since it is made from wax.

Note that not all metals are attracted to magnetics, but magnetite, a common mineral found in rocks, is. Sure, the magnet test can’t give definitive answers on whether an object is authentic ambergris, which sometimes comes in golden tones as well, but it can give you an idea if a substance is really something valuable or just rubble.

Better to Err on the Side of Caution

It's obvious that Gary and Angela wanted to be certain before getting the experts involved, and after doing the magnet test, their suspicions about the strange rock were affirmed. Although, finding an expert mustn't have been easy as Overton is quite a small town with a population last estimated around 1,069 people.

Besides, it’s always better to err on the side of caution, especially as some strange, smelly rocks found at the beach may contain asbestos, a dangerous substance that may cause cancer. So, we’re glad the couple was wary of what they may be dealing with.

Safely Tucked Away

According to a Lancashire Post report, Gary and Angela kept the rock safe as they weighed their options and planned their next move. Hopefully, their background in science helped them take precautionary measures in storing the rock they hoped was ambergris.

For starters, it is a bad idea to store ambergris in anything that’s air-tight like plastic containers. Making this mistake would compromise the whale by-product’s quality leading to mold or causing it to lose weight. Ambergris is also sensitive to high temperatures because of its wax-like texture that can melt and disappear completely.

Calling For Backup

Knowing their own limitations, Gary and Angela got in touch with experts to help them identify the rock they found. The needle test had confirmed that the substance was made from wax. Moreover, the magnet test showed that it wasn't any ordinary rock or a meteorite. So what exactly could it be?

Not having any explanation for the foul smell being emitted from the rock, they knew that they had no choice but to bring in the professionals. If their suspicions were true, the couple could become insanely rich overnight. But how much was this potential treasure actually worth?

Stakes Are High

In no time, a team of officials in protective gear was dispatched to their house for an inspection. The couple was advised to stay outside while they examined the mysterious substance. Gary and Angela waited anxiously for the officials to give them some news, and when they finally announced that the rock was ambergris, they couldn't contain their happiness.

They must have known how valuable ambergris can be and the kind of money buyers are willing to pay to take it off their hands. Reports say that the couple was also communicating with buyers from both France and New Zealand. What exactly is special about these countries, you ask? Find out next

A $66,000 Find

New Zealand is known for its high-quality ambergris. The abundance of this valuable substance in the country is attributed to the surrounding deep-sea waters, ideal for sperm whales. Meanwhile, France is known for its thriving perfume industry, which uses ambergris, and is even home to Grasse, widely considered to be the world’s perfume capital.

Various reports on their story estimate the value of their finding, which weighed 3.46 pounds, to be around $66K to $70K. And if the experts who examined the substance determined that it is not only true ambergris but also of top quality, the selling price can shoot up even more. Gary and Angela might just increase their net worth by $500K to a $1 million if they’re really lucky.

Another Finding Close To Home

Stories of other ambergris found around Lancashire certainly prove that a massive chunk of cash is in store for the couple. But one story should serve as a warning. A British man, Ken Wilman, has a similar tale to tell after coming by a foul-smelling rock at the nearby Morecambe beach also in Lancashire.

Wilman was walking his dog when he picked up a six-pound lump of ambergris in 2013. A curator from the Lakes Aquarium pegged the finding’s estimated value pegged to be around $180,000. However, a French buyer offered much less than that at $68,000.

Rotten Luck

Unfortunately, Wilman’s story didn’t have a happy ending. According to a report from the Mirror, his luck changed after he found out the lump he thought was ambergris was something else entirely. The object, which turned out to be an unidentified object, was not worth as much money as he had hoped.

He received the bad news after mailing a piece of the rock to Kemp in the US thanks to encouragement from a friend. Wilman took the news pretty well though and was grateful when another person offered to send him a cut of the real thing.

Warning From Experts

It's also worth noting that a warning followed Wilman's discovery of the false ambergris. Worried that the man's finding would encourage other people to flock to the same beach, Morecambe's lifeboat operations manager cautioned the public about the dangers of flocking the beach during stormy weather.

He said that the tides can come in unexpectedly and put beachcombers in perilous situations. For example, the water can quickly soften the sand a person is standing on effectively turning it into quicksand. This could then trap them as the tides continue to get stronger around them.

A Stressful Situation

Considering Wilman’s story and the suspense of waiting for the experts’ answers, we can imagine how stressed out Gary and Angela might have been at the time. There’s nothing quite like getting your hopes up for months only to be crushed later on when they’re disproven.

Still, they do have some success stories to look up to and keep them optimistic about their own luck. They can look to the story of the unnamed man, who found what he suspected was ambergris while at an Anglesey beach in 2015, for some inspiration.

Going Once, Going Twice...Sold!

The yellow and black substance was initially estimated to sell for over $9,200. But it ended up exceeding these expectations when it was auctioned off through the Adam Partridge Auctioneers & Valuers. The company managed to sell the 2.4-pound ambergris for about $14.5K after verifying its authenticity.

A spokesman for the auction house even shared that there was a lot of interest in the highly-prized product. About fifty people and two news crews came to the in-person auction. But it was a private collector from the UK placing their bids through the phone that outbid everybody else that day.

An Impossible Hunt

A Dream Come True

As for the Williamses, they are planning on using the small fortune they might earn to fulfill one of their biggest dreams. In an interview with the Mirror, Gary shared that the money would allow them to get closer to buying a static caravan, a kind of residence that’s comparable to mobile homes and typically used as holiday homes.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find news of the couple finally authenticating and selling their ambergris. But a news clipping from The Sun mentions that a ball of ambergris of the same size as theirs and also found in Lancashire was sold in 2016 for over $66,000.