Elleda Wilson: Stinky jackpot
Nov. 17—Hold-your-nose rerun: ScienceAlert.com reports that three fishermen from Oman, on the Arabian peninsula, found a whopping 176-pound chunk of ambergris worth almost $3 million ($3.7 million now).
The waxy, icky-smelling stuff — "like a cross between squid and farmyard manure," a previous finder noted — can be either sperm whale vomit or poop. Ambergris starts as a secretion in the whale's stomach to coat indigestible objects like squid beaks. When a certain amount of coated rubble piles up, everything goes.
Ambergris is so valuable because it's used to make the scent in high-end fragrances last longer and, of course, because it's such a rare find. "We rushed back to the beach with joy and happiness," one fisherman said.
Sperm whales are in almost every ocean, so a stinky treasure could wash up on a beach just about anywhere. Even right here in Clatsop County. (In One Ear, 11/18/2016) (Photo: Wikipedia Commons)
