Whale vomit 'extraordinarily valuable'
Whale vomit has been described as "floating gold" - or ambergris.
It is used in perfume and is hugely expensive because it is so rare.
Ken Wilman found a great chunk of it on a beach in Morecambe.
Callum Roberts, Professor of Marine Conservation at York University, told the Today programme: "It's extraordinarily valuable, and the reason is that it is a perfect stabiliser for perfumes, and it's been used in this way for hundreds of years now.
"You mix it with the perfume because the fragrances will evaporate very quickly if you don't have something to stabilise them."
First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today Programme on Thursday 31 January 2013.
31 Jan 2013
- From the section Science & Environment