A precocious young British boy has stumbled upon a that could be worth as much as $63,000. Charlie Naysmith, 8, was walking with his parents along the beach at Hengistbury Head, on the south coast of England, when he got interested in a curious-looking rock. , a waxy excretion formed in the intestines of sperm whales, has traditionally been used in perfumes as a fixative, though it has been gradually replaced by synthetics. In Moby Dick, Melville writes of the irony that “fine ladies and gentlemen should regale themselves with an essence found in the inglorious bowels of a sick whale.” Known as “floating gold,” possession of the stuff is banned in several countries, including the U.S., to prevent the poaching of sperm whales. As for the boy, he’s now trying to decide what to do with the windfall and has indicated he might like to build a house for animals.
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