Experts have now been able to determine the cause of death of the sperm whale that was found dead on a beach in La Palma, Spain. A lump of ambergris, something sometimes called “liquid gold”, was found in the whale’s stomach.
According to Antonio Fernández Rodriguez, who performed an autopsy on the whale, it was the precious treasure, worth over five million kroner, that contributed to the whale suffering from sepsis and then dying, reports AP.
It was recently that the 13-meter-long sperm whale was found dead on the beach of Nogales on the Canary island of La Palma. Antonio Fernández Rodriguez suspected from the beginning that the whale died as a result of intestinal problems, and during the autopsy he discovered that something was stuck in the animal’s large intestine.
– What I took out was a stone with a diameter of 50-60 centimeters and a weight of 9.5 kilos. The waves washed over the whales and everyone looked at me as I returned to shore. But what they didn’t understand was that I had ambergris in my hands, he tells The Guardian.
Worth over five million kroner
The reason why ambergris is sometimes called liquid gold has to do with the fact that it has often been found floating on the sea and has long been a sought-after ingredient in the perfume industry. The ambergris found in the sperm whale’s entrails is estimated to be worth 500,000 dollars, corresponding to over five million Swedish kronor.
Antonio Fernández Rodriguez and his research team hope to be able to sell the ambergris and then donate the money to those who lost their homes in connection with the volcanic eruption that hit the island in 2021.
– The law works a little differently in different countries. In our case, I hope the money goes back to La Palma where the whales ran aground and died, says Antonio Fernández Rodriguez to The Guardian.
Comes from squid
Scientists believe that ambergris forms in whales because they eat large amounts of squid. The parts of the squid that the whales cannot digest are either regurgitated, or remain in the intestines.
Over time, the squid parts become more and more, which finally grow together and form precisely ambergris.