He finds a 765,067 euro "whale poo" on a beach in Thailand

A man discovered a whale poo on a beach in Phuket, southern Thailand, and his find could be worth up to 765,067 euros.

A Thai man jogging along Mai Khao beach on 23 September believes he has discovered a piece of sperm whale ambergris that could be worth as much as 30 million Baht (€765,067).

Yongyuth Limsuebcheu, 66, a resident of Mai Khao commune, said he was jogging along the beach when he saw a large round lump washed ashore in front of the Maikhao Dream Villa Resort & Spa.

Mr Yongyuth shows where he found the "whale poo" on Mai Khao beach

Mr Yonguth went to inspect the object.

Curious, he touched it and found that it was an oily, honey-like substance that stuck to his finger.

"It was similar to the golden yellow whale poop I saw on the TV news," said Mr Yongtuth.

In December 2020, a Thai fisherman made a similar discovery on a beach in Nakhon Si Thammarat, which was reported on TV.

See : Thai fisherman discovers whale vomit worth up to €2.6 million

He rushed the lump home and studied it in more detail, before deciding that it was whale ambergris.

Ambergris is available in several colours: grey, black, yellow, orange and even marbled white.

Ambergris, valuable whale poo or vomit

Ambergris forms as a secretion from the bile duct in the sperm whale's intestines and is discarded as faecal matter, leading many people to believe for years that it was whale poop or vomit.

Ambergris is used in oriental cultures to make medicines, potions and as a spice.

In the West, it is used to stabilise the smell of luxury perfumes.

A large piece of ambergris found by fishermen in Oman in 2016 weighed some 80 kg and was valued at 2,56 million.

Mr Yongyuth confirmed that the piece he found weighed 19.5 kg.

"If it is real sea amber or whale amber, it will be worth up to 1.5 million baht per kilogram, which is a value for this piece of amber of almost 30 million," Mr Yongyuth noted.

Expert marine biologists from the Phuket Marine Biological Centre (PMBC) were informed of the discovery.

They are now in possession of the potentially valuable piece and are examining it to confirm that it is ambergris.

Source: The Phuket News