Kristen Marvin was strolling along Melbourne Beach in Florida, searching for sea turtles, when an unusual discovery brought her walk to a halt.
Half-buried in the sand was a white-and-gold object unlike anything she expected to find.
“We get a fair amount of melted plastic washing up on our beaches, so naturally I picked it up,” she told the Daily Mail.
“The moment I did, I knew it wasn’t plastic. And it definitely wasn’t a rock. It was surprisingly lightweight and had this very distinctive waxy feel.”
That was when Marvin began to wonder whether she had found ambergris, an exceptionally rare substance prized by the perfume industry. “So, naturally, I smelled it,” she said.
Often called “floating gold,” ambergris is a waste product expelled by sperm whales through defecation or vomiting. Scientists believe it helps protect the whales’ digestive systems by forming a barrier between their intestines and the sharp squid beaks found in their primary food.
Ambergris can reportedly be worth as much as $10,000 per ounce. After decades drifting through the ocean, it develops the distinctive scent that once made it an ingredient in Chanel No 5.
That earthy aroma remains highly desirable, but because naturally occurring ambergris is so rare, most modern fragrances—including Creed’s Aventus cologne—use synthetic alternatives.
Kristen Marvin was stunned to discover a large chunk of “floating gold” on Melbourne Beach in Florida
She first suspected the object was melted plastic before realizing it could be far more valuable
Ambergris is prized by perfumers and was once used in Chanel No 5. Creed’s Aventus fragrance uses a synthetic version of the scent
Marvin took the waxy object home, where she found that it floated rather than sinking like a rock. She also pressed a hot needle into it; the resulting puff of white smoke reinforced her belief that she had found ambergris.
Her first discovery came in 2024. Since then, she has found two more pieces—one later that year and another only a few weeks ago.
Despite the substance’s value, Marvin is technically not allowed to possess the ambergris. Byproducts from US sperm whales are protected under the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act.
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Marvin has since discovered two more pieces of the valuable substance along the Florida coast
“You may not collect, keep, or sell ambergris because it is a part from an endangered marine mammal,” the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states.
The global sperm whale population is estimated to have dropped from 1.1 million to 300,000, partly because of whaling, according to Monterey Bay Aquarium. Only a small percentage of sperm whales are believed to produce ambergris, helping explain why the substance is so uncommon.
After each discovery, Marvin contacted NOAA. She eventually handed one piece to a local whale conservation organization, which she said has been communicating with federal authorities.
Jamie E Wright, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, told the Daily Mail: “It is confusing to think something naturally expelled from an animal is illegal.
“However, many laws govern wildlife, including how animals may be hunted and what parts of them can be collected or carried.”
Marvin tested the ambergris at home by heating a needle and sticking it in to see if it produced white smoke
In 2012, Charlie Naysmith, an eight-year-old boy from Bournemouth, England, found a lump that was thought to be worth up to £40,000 ($64,000 at the time)
‘These laws make it harder for markets to sell animal by-products or kill those needing extra protection, much like ambergris.’
The law gives a strong incentive for less honest people who find ambergris in the US not to publicize their finds, meaning the substance may be more prevalent here than is widely understood.
In countries such as the UK and Canada it is legal to sell ambergris. In 2012, Charlie Naysmith, an eight-year-old boy from Bournemouth, England, found a lump that was thought to be worth up to £40,000 ($64,000 at the time), according to a report by the BBC.
Back in Florida, Marvin, who runs the nonprofit Turtley Yours Foundation, still has two of the chunks. She keeps them tucked in a cabinet in case federal authorities one day require her to hand them over.
She hopes to one day use the pieces in a workshop for children. ‘Being able to actually see and smell something as rare and unusual as ambergris, rather than simply looking at a photograph, could be an incredible way to capture their attention,’ she told the Daily Mail.
‘I think there’s something particularly powerful about holding something so rare that came from a sperm whale. It makes you realize that its greatest value isn’t measured in dollars, but rather in the story it can tell.’