a dog walker who spent two years thinking he owned a £100,000 piece of rare whale vomit has discovered the pungent rock is actually worthless ken wilman thought he had found 'floating gold' when he stumbled across what he believed was a 3kg lump of the highly sought after ambergris on the beach in morecambe, lancashire but his dream of netting a small fortune has now been shattered after an expert in the us revealed the 'stone' is not authentic ambergris   and has absolutely no value scroll down for video  ken wilman, 52, thought he had discovered a £100,000 piece of rare whale vomit when he found this yellow grey rock washed up on the beach in morecambe, lancashire, while working his dog madge  an expert in the us believes that the pungent  rock has absolutely no value and is not authentic ambergris  ambergris, or 'grey amber', is the intestinal slurry of sperm whales, which they eject into the ocean   usually when they have a stomach or throat problem the substance can then float around undiscovered for years in the water, where it hardens and develops into a smooth lump of compact rock which feels waxy and has a sweet smell it is this aromatic quality which makes it is used in perfumes such as chanel number 5 mr wilman said: 'if i had my time over again, i would kick the rock to one side and walk away i wish i'd never found it i've got to accept what happened and get on with it' the 52 year old was walking his boxer dog madge along the beach in january 2013 when he stumbled across what he believed to be the rare item the highly sought after ambergris, or 'grey amber', is the intestinal slurry of sperm whales, which they eject into the ocean   usually when they have a stomach or throat problem (file picture) ambergris is the intestinal slurry of sperm whales, which they eject into the ocean   usually when they have a stomach or throat problem the substance can then float around undiscovered for years in the water, where it hardens and develops its distinctive odour the decades of floating and exposure to sun and salt will then turn the matter into ambergris, a smooth lump of compact rock which feels waxy and has a sweet smell it is that quality which means it is highly sought after with perfume makers, who use it to prolong the scent of perfume although ambergris is still an ingredient in perfumes today, producers usually remove it from their product because of the legal ambiguities surrounding its use as it comes from sperm whale, which is classed as a vulnerable species, cosmetic companies tend to shun using it because it is associated with whaling but the sweet smelling sick has been used in a variety of other ways throughout history ancient egyptians reportedly found a use for it by burning ambergris as incense the country still uses it today for scenting cigarettes during the black death in europe, worried people also thought they could thwart the plague by carrying a ball of ambergris because the vomit masked the smell, which they thought was the root of the illness it is rarely found on british beaches, usually being washed up in america and australia a french dealer offered him 50,000 euros if it turned out to be real, while some experts said it could be worth double that quote but the true value of the stone was discovered when documentary maker peregrine andrewswho produced a radio 4 show called ken, madge and the strange rock following the find   sent a sample to an expert across the atlantic christopher kemp, an american author who wrote a book about ambergris, then broke the news that it was definitely not whale vomit to add to mr wilman's heartbreak, his beloved dog has also passed away since he made the discovery mr andrews said: 'he (christopher kemp) emailed me back and said it's definitely not ambergris, although he didn't know what it was 'then i had a text from ken telling me madge had died he was in complete shock and then i had to tell him it wasn't real ambergris' mr andrews has since contacted a dealer in new zealand who has promised to send mr wilman a 2g piece of real ambergris although it is virtually worthless, mr wilman is delighted at the gesture he said: 'when peregrine told me, i nearly broke down i cant believe there are nice people in the world, like this lady, who feels sorry for me and wants to send me a piece of ambergris 'i've kept a level head about things and i'm trying to find humour in the situation' although it is rarely found on british beaches, eight year old charlie naysmith discovered a 600g piece after taking a stroll along hengistbury head, near bournemouth in 2012 beachcombers sean kane and, 24, and ian foster, 39, also discovered a 110lb of whale vomit washed up on the beach in criccieth, north wales, in 2008 in 2006 a couple walking on an australian beach found a 32 pound chunk of ambergris, which netted them $295,000 (£155,000)
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