Where there's puke there's plunder 找到鯨魚嘔吐物就發了!

People look at a dead sperm whale on the beach in Changle in southeast China's Fujian province on Jan. 15, 2008. 一月十五日，民眾在中國南部福建省長樂市的海邊，觀看一尾死亡的抹香鯨。 照片：美聯社 PHOTO:AP

An Australian beachcomberis hoping to strike it rich. He has found a lump of sperm whale vomit. He found it near Melbourne on the south coast.

"The research I've done on it, it's worth a fortune. But at this stage, I don't know what I'm going to do with it," Stephen Atkinson said last week.

More properly, the name for the belched-up blob of vomit is "ambergris." It is rare and highly valued by perfume makers. The 7kg lump could fetch more than A$100,000 (NT$2.8 million).

The ambergris, which is lighter than water, might have bobbed in the ocean for more than a decade after being coughed out.

Sperm whales are the largest of the toothed whales. They can grow to up to 18m and can weigh 31 tons. 

(DPA)

澳洲一名在海邊撿拾漂流物的男子有機會一夜致富了，因為他在澳洲南部墨爾本附近沿海發現了一大坨抹香鯨的嘔吐物。

史帝芬．阿特金森上週說：「我做了一些研究，發現這坨東西價值不斐；但我現在還不確定要怎麼處理它。」

更精確地說，這一團嘔吐物名為「龍涎香」；對香水公司來說，這是相當稀有珍貴的，這團七公斤重的龍涎香可以賣超過十萬元澳幣（新台幣兩百八十萬元）。

因為龍涎香的比重比水輕，這坨龍涎香在抹香鯨吐出後，可能已在海上漂浮超過十年之久。

抹香鯨是世界上最大的齒鯨，牠們能長到十八公尺長、重達三十一公噸。

（德通社／翻譯：袁星塵）

TODAY'S WORLDS 今日單字 1. beachcomber n. 在海邊撿拾漂流物的人 (zai4 hai3 bian1 jian3 shi2 piao1 liu2 wu4) 例: Sol is a beachcomber. (索爾在海邊撿拾漂流物。) 2. vomit n. 嘔吐物 (ou3 tu4 wu4) 例: What do you think vomit smells like? (你覺得嘔吐物的味道聞起來像什麼？) 3. research n. 研究 (yan2 jiu4) 例: We decided to respond to their research by changing our advert. (我們決定更換廣告以回應他們的研究。) 4. perfume n. 香水 (xiang1 shui3) 例: I bought my mom some perfume for Mother's Day . (我買香水送給我媽當作母親節禮物。)