A Scottish Man Just Found A Suspected Chunk Of Ambergris On Ayrshire Beach That Could Be Worth Thousands

Published October 16, 2023
Updated October 18, 2023

Ambergris, sometimes called "whale vomit," is used in expensive perfumes to make scents stick on the skin.

Whale Vomit

Patrick WilliamsonThe object hasn’t yet been tested, but appears to be ambergris.

Patrick Williamson was walking along the beach in Ayrshire, Scotland when his dog suddenly dropped her ball and made a beeline for a strange rock sitting atop some seaweed. Williamson went to investigate the greyish-yellow object and concluded that it was ambergris — known as whale vomit — a rare substance that can fetch exorbitant prices.

“I work on a fishing boat, so I knew what ambergris was. I’ve never seen it before, but I’ve heard stories about it,” Williamson said according to the New York Post. “I was walking along Irvine Beach with the dog. I clocked something on the seaweed, and the dog ran over to it and dropped her ball. She doesn’t usually drop her ball, so I knew there was something there.”

Williamson picked up the rock-like object, which weighed about 5.5 ounces. Though he hasn’t yet had the it professionally tested, Williamson believes that it’s a small piece of ambergris, a waxy substance found in the guts of sperm whales which is sometimes referred to as “floating gold.”

Ambergris

Wmpearl/Wikimedia CommonsAmbergris on display at Alaska’s Skagway Museum.

Indeed, ambergris can fetch eye-watering prices when found. Small chunks of it can sell for tens of thousands of dollars, and a group of Yemeni fisherman sold a 280-pound chunk of ambergris — which they found in the stomach of a dead whale — for whooping $1.5 million in 2021.

That’s because ambergris is a coveted ingredient used by high-end perfume makers. National Geographic reports that perfume makers like Chanel and Lanvin use ambergris because of how it adheres a scent to the skin.

But though ambergris is used to make pleasant perfumes, its origins are decidedly less delicate. Ambergris comes from the gut of sperm whales.

Sperm Whale Tail

Bernard Spragg/Wikimedia CommonsAmbergris comes from the guts of sperm whales, but scientists don’t understand every step of the process.

Scientists don’t understand everything about ambergris, but it appears that it’s made when sperm whales eat squids. Since whales can’t digest the squids’ beaks, they usually vomit them up. But sometimes, the beaks make it into the whale’s intestines, which triggers the ambergris process.

“As a growing mass, [the beaks] are pushed farther along the intestines and become a tangled indigestible solid, saturated with feces, which begins to obstruct the rectum,” author Christopher Kemp explained in his book Floating Gold: A Natural (and Unnatural) History of Ambergris.

“[G]radually the feces saturating the compacted mass of squid beaks becomes like cement, binding the slurry together permanently.”

Ambergris is often referred to as “whale vomit,” but scientists think that it’s probably fecal matter. Some whales might be able to pass the ambergris slurry and swim away, but others die after the obstruction ruptures their rectums. Then, the ambergris makes its way onto the beach.

Williamson believes that he’s found such a chunk, but he hasn’t yet confirmed the find. One way to determine if something is ambergris or rock is to heat a needle and press it to the surface, since ambergris will quickly melt. Williamson says he has done this, but he plans to have the object professionally checked out to see if it’s truly ambergris or not.

“We’ve tested it with a hot needle, and it was doing the exact same thing that ambergris would,” he explained. “People have been saying that I can take it to Glasgow University, and they’ll test it – so I’ll be doing that on my next day off.”

In the meantime, Williamson and his dog will keep their eyes out for chunks of strange rock on the beach. After all, ambergris can be an extremely lucrative discovery for anyone who stumbles across it.

“I’m on the beaches all the time,” Williamson said. “I take my dog with me wherever I go, so we’ll be looking every time we land now.”


After reading about how a Scotsman and his dog allegedly discovered a chunk of ambergris, or whale vomit, while walking on the beach, discover the bizarre story of Oregon’s exploding whale. Or, see how a beachcomber in Maryland stumbled across a 12-million-year-old whale skull.

author
Kaleena Fraga
author
A senior staff writer for All That's Interesting since 2021 and co-host of the History Uncovered Podcast, Kaleena Fraga graduated with a dual degree in American History and French Language and Literature from Oberlin College. She previously ran the presidential history blog History First, and has had work published in The Washington Post, Gastro Obscura, and elsewhere. She has published more than 1,200 pieces on topics including history and archaeology. She is based in Brooklyn, New York.
editor
Jaclyn Anglis
editor
Based in Brooklyn, New York, Jaclyn Anglis is the senior managing editor at All That's Interesting, where she has worked since 2019. She holds a Master's degree in journalism from the City University of New York and a dual Bachelor's degree in English writing and history from DePauw University. In a career that spans 11 years, she has also worked with the New York Daily News, Bustle, and Bauer Xcel Media. Her interests include American history, true crime, modern history, and science.
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Fraga, Kaleena. "A Scottish Man Just Found A Suspected Chunk Of Ambergris On Ayrshire Beach That Could Be Worth Thousands." AllThatsInteresting.com, October 16, 2023, https://allthatsinteresting.com/ayrshire-ambergris-discovery. Accessed July 25, 2025.