Treasure Hunting for Whale Vomit: Why is it Worth SO Much Money?

Name: Treasure Hunting for Whale Vomit: Why is it Worth SO Much Money?
Uploaded: 2025-12-14T17:51:06.000Z
Duration: 24 min 24 s
Description: Ben searches Tonga's Hapai Islands for ambergris worth up to $45,000 a pound.

14. desember 2025 · 24 min · 86K visninger · Tonga

Sailboat trolling lure through deep blue ocean wake

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Ben, aboard the catamaran Nahoa, has spent five years searching beaches across Thailand, Mozambique, Madagascar, and the Pacific for ambergris — sperm whale intestinal secretion used in perfumery and worth more per gram than silver.0:30 The search reaches a potential turning point in the Hapai Islands, Tonga, at the start of cyclone season, when Ben finds a waxy, sea-cucumber-shaped object stuck to a coconut root at the high-tide line.1:53 He photographs it and runs it through ChatGPT, which confirms aged ambergris has a waxy, firm consistency; a one-to-two-pound piece of premium quality could fetch $45,000 USD.20:00 Ashley suspects soft coral.20:37 Ben returns to the beach at night before the rising tide can wash it away.21:41 The video does not resolve whether the find is genuine. Alongside the ambergris hunt, the crew sails 62 miles from the Vavau group to the Hapai group at eight knots under a code sail, anchors at Limu Island in 4.5 meters of crystal-clear but bouncy, unprotected water, and uses a lightweight aluminum Danforth as a side anchor to reduce roll — deployed by swimming it out by hand in shallow water, with a retrieval line recommended in deeper conditions.3:12 Pumice from a nearby underwater volcanic eruption covers Limu Island's beach entirely.16:06