CHUKAI: "At first, I thought it was garbage. Just imagine my surprise when my father told me that he believed it was a chunk of whale vomit," said Aida Zurina Long.
Aida, 41, said she discovered the waxy substance believed to be whale puke or ambergris while fishing with her family near the Malaysian Fisheries Development Board jetty in Marang last month.
"I found the floating object about 11pm. I thought it was rubbish and pulled it to ashore using a stick. The next day, I went back and the thing was still there, so I decided to take it home with me," she said at her home in Kampung Kemasik.
When she showed the solid waxy object to her father, who is a fisherman, Aida said she was taken aback when he told her that it turned out to be whale vomit and it was a rare find here in Malaysia.
"My father tried to burn a tiny portion of the object. It began to melt like candle and emitted a pleasant smell," said the food operator in Kemasik near here.
Aida said she did an Internet search and discovered that what she found was likely to have high value.
"I am willing to work with any interested quarters to conduct a test on this thing that I have found so that we can validate and determine its quality.
"I know the cost involved to conduct lab tests will be expensive, thus I will cooperate (with any interested parties) to gauge its authenticity," Aida said, adding that she had never knew whale vomit was a sought after item in the perfume industry.
There were reports of similar findings in other countries, including in Thailand on Nov 26, last year.
Ambergris is said to be formed when a sperm whale throws up and its bile floats along the ocean till it washes up on shore as a hardened chunk. It's used mainly in luxury perfumes as a fixative to help the scents last longer.