Dad finds rare 'floating gold' whale vomit - and hopes to sell it for £40,000
A dad out for a walk with his son believes he found a large lump of rare whale vomit - and it could land him more than £40,000.
Unemployed Ronnie Humphreys, 42, claims to have discovered a 2kg haul of ambergris on Leven Beach in Fife, with his five-year-old son Alfie. The substance is also known as floating gold and is used to make perfume and high quality ambergris is said to fetch up to £20 a gram.
As a result Ronnie's 2kg haul is worth £40k if it is found to be whale vomit, although some experts believe it could be sewage grease - which is worthless.
However the dad of seven is adamant he knows what he has.
Experts say the find is merely sewage (Ronnie Humphries / SWNS)Ronnie told the Daily Record : “It's definitely whale vomit. We did everything at home and it passed all the tests.
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"The clumps also had squid beaks in it which is a sign of it being whale-vomit which is a key sign. The dog wouldn't leave it alone and a guy at Citizens Advice in the labs agreed it's whale vomit.
"It ticks all the boxes so I'm confident. I've got no problem getting it tested too before I put it up for auction.
"Me and my son walk on that beach almost every day. He accidentally stood on it looking for crabs and it squashed under his feet, kind of like wax. I picked it up and I kind of knew what it was - but thought there's no way I could be this lucky.
"I left it and continued our walk but something told me to go back and pick it up.”
An expert at Ambergris Europe - which specialises in identification - reckons the find is "sewage grease".
A spokesperson said: "It is degraded oil from wastewater - sewage grease.
“This material is a very common human pollution on the beaches of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic."
Despite this, Ronnie still believes he has real ambergris - and wants to sell.
“He added: "I'm going to put it up for auction eventually. It would be a life-changing amount of money for us. Fishermen call it floating gold.
"We don't want to move areas or anything but the money would make sure all my kids are secure. It would change our lives."
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The largest-ever find is believed to have been by a group of fishermen in Yemen in 2021. The 35-strong group found £1.1m ($1.5m) worth in a carcass floating on the sea
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