COAST AWASH WITH AMBERGRIS

AN INFLUX of smelly, gunky black lumps had South Coast locals enthralled this past week, with reports of ambergris washing up on beaches at Kiama Surf Beach and Seven Mile Beach.

While not aesthetically appealing, ambergris is a valuable substance used to produce perfumes.

Its origins though, are somewhat less glamorous.

Its basically a phlegm-like substance coughed up by sick sperm whales at sea.

Recent high seas appear to have brought the ambergris to shore, where its proved a fascinating find for some beachgoers.

73-year-old Allen Coleman stumbled across a football-sized lump of ambergris while walking his dog last week.

I saw this thing laying on the beach, recalled Allen.

I had a look at it, smelled it it was the size of between a large coconut and a rugby league football.

It smelled pretty bad the dog wasnt interested in it at all, but Id heard about this ambergris stuff and thought it might be that.

Im going to get my mate to come up and take a photo of it and put it on the internet see if its worth anything.

I carried the thing a kilometre back to my home, so I hope its worth something, he laughed

Ambergris can be worth around $40 per gram.

Currently on internet marketplace E-bay, there are two Australian finds of ambergris for sale.

A 300 gram piece found in Esperance, Western Australia and a 148 gram piece washed up in Gympie are both up for sale for $2500.

A 20-metre trail of whats believed to be ambergris was found on Kiama Surf beach.

Photos of the deposit, taken by the Independent, were sent on to University of Wollongongs School of Biological Sciences.

Associate Professor Ron West said it was possible the dumping at Kiama Surf Beach was ambergris.

Ambergris is?regurgitated by sperm whales can be washed up on beaches, said Assoc Prof West.

If washed up when fresh, it smells very bad and is of little value.

It becomes more valuable as it drifts around the ocean for long periods (tens of years), hardening and becoming concentrated through constant washing in the sea and drying by the sun.

During the process it loses the bad smell and takes on a sweet odour.

In this final state, it is still used in the perfume industry and can be very valuable.

Assoc Prof West said the university had been informed of several sightings of sperm whales off the coast of Eden in the last fortnight, adding weight to the subsequent discoveries of ambergris.

It looks like this material - found at Kiama Surf Beach -? if ambergris, and if the reports of strong bad smells are correct, is not the valuable type.