Yemen is one of the poorest countries in the world, relying heavily on fishing for its livelihood. Luckily, a group of fishermen in Yemen smiled and found a floating treasure of Rs 10 crore inside the carcass of a sperm whale. The search for ambergris proved invaluable to the 35 fishermen who spotted the giant sperm whale while sitting in the waters of the Gulf of Aden in southern Yemen.
A Syrian fisherman was the first to warned a group of 35 others in the Gulf of Aden about the carcass of the giant mammal, saying it may contain ambergris. As they approached the giant corpse, the fishermen smelled the stench of seagulls and were convinced that there was something in their stomachs. The group then bent the dead mammal and carried it to shore.
When the fishermen evicted it, they were surprised to find 127 kg lump of waxy, black ambergris. The group was happier because they found a fortune treasure worth $1.5 million.
“It was an unbelievable price. One of them told the BBC. “We are all poor,” “We never expected this thing would to give us so much money.”
Often known as the “treasure of the sea” or “floating gold”, ambergris is a flammable substance of solid waxy that is produced in the sperm whale’s digestive system. One of the rarest and most valuable materials is derived from whale vomiting. This is a very desirable substance because it is used in perfumes to help it last longer. Ambergris can usually sell up to $50,000 per kilogram.
The fishermen sold the substance at around 1.3bn Yemeni rials which equals to about $1.5 million (£1 million) to a trader from the United Arab of Emirates. They decided to distribute the profits equally and also donated some money to the poor families in their community.
