A Beach Walk and a Puzzle

It was a fine spring morning at the beach.  Temperatures started at 45 F, but warmed into the mid 50's over the time we walked.  The wind was light, out of the west, the best of all possible winds.  The tide was high, but sand had built up enough to let us walk down the beach and back without having to detour through streets. 

The buffies are still here, and this one was hanging close to shore, and feeding.

Caught him in mid-plunge. 



Below is a real puzzle.  I'm hoping against hope that this large blob of "stuff" I found on the beach is ambergris.  Ambergris is an intestinal secretion of sperm whales, and was commonly use to help fix the scents of perfume. 

The blob fits the various descriptions of ambergris on the net quite well, the color, texture and scent are all well within variations described for the substance.

The blob is about 35 pounds, mostly a brownish granular texture, with large white inclusions.  It has the texture of soft wax, or heavy clay, and is greasy to the touch.  It has an odd, not terribly offensive odor, a bit fishy, but fairly strong.  

However, if it is proved to be ambergris it would be a highly unusual find.  Ambergris is rare on the ocean, where sperm whales live, but for it to wash into the bay (where sperm whales do not come, as far as I know), and work its way as far up as St. Leonard is pushing the bounds of possibility. 

Ambergris is also still considered a valuable commodity fetching as much as $10-20 a gram (that might be a bit high, though).  I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and I have a couple feelers out to find out if it really is ambergris.

UPDATE 3/14/11: Alas, not ambergris. I consulted two different sources, one in France and one in New Zealand, who looked at photos of the material, and showed me some simple physical tests, which determined that the material is tallow, or some similar animal fat, aged in the bay.