Fishermen do not have an easy job. According to some statistics, a career in fishing is one of the most dangerous jobs, leading to more drowning deaths than anything else. Not only is the job dangerous, but it can also be unreliable. If you don’t catch anything that particular day, you don’t get paid. That’s what an unlucky fisherman from Thailand had been experiencing for a long time until he stumbled upon a stinking pile of whale vomit that he sold for more than $300,000.
When fisherman Jumrus Thiachot found the whale vomit earlier this year, he knew it smelled bad, but he didn’t know it was worth a fortune. However, instinct told him to keep the whale vomit because it might be valuable to someone. It was rare, to say the least.
He contacted the proper authorities and learned the shocking truth about it. The whale vomit that he had in his possession was not just a stinking pile of mess. It was worth about $320,000.
The 55-year-old fisherman from Thailand, who had experienced terrible luck recently, had effectively found a pile of buried treasure or struck a gold mine. The whale vomit, which is known as ambergris, weighed 14 pounds, making it a large piece.
Thiachot found the ambergris while walking along the beach in southern Thailand in a town called Koh Samui when he stumbled upon the valuable treasure. Because he didn’t know what it was but sensed that it was special, kept hold of it, and then went on working for the rest of the day. He ended up earning about 400 baht, which is about $15 for the entire day of fishing. It was hardly enough to get him through to the next morning.
Little did the humble fisherman known, but the chunk of whale vomit that he found was considered the “treasure of the sea.” The reason it is so valuable is that fancy perfume companies use it in their products. If you’re a fan of fancy perfume, you are probably spritzing whale vomit onto yourself. It helps scents last longer because it contains the odorless alcohol ambrein
Because he took the whale vomit home, he now has a treasure that could be worth $320,000 or more. For a humble fisherman like Thiachot, that is like hitting the lottery. The treasure was confirmed when local officials arrived at his home to check out the waxy lump and confirm it was what everyone thought it was.
He said: “Three of my neighbors came after my nephew told the villagers that I found a whale vomit. They asked for slices and said that they would run some checks to prove that it was really a whale vomit, but they said the tests didn’t show anything. I needed to know the truth, so that’s why I contacted the authorities to check. Now I know it is real whale vomit I will sell it.”
This down-and-out fisherman got lucky. What do you think about the way his fortune turned around because of a waxy chunk of whale vomit?