Was the huge, revolting white blob that washed up on a New Zealand beach whale vomit or precious ambergris? Or was the remains of a meteorite or a giant cheese gone astray? Read on for possibilities, but do it before your morning snack or lunchtime.
The size of a 44-gallon drum, the blob that appeared on Wellington’s Breaker Bay, New Zealand, could have been a contender for the role of that old 1950s horror flick starring Steve McQueen, The Blob. According to
news sources, fortune seekers in typical gold rush madness flocked to see the ugly mass because first reports claimed it to be ambergris, a valuable sperm-whale secretion that is used in making perfume. If that had been the case, the unsightly blob might have been worth upwards of £5 million (about $10 million US dollars).
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said:
“It has been like "some sort of bizarre gold rush on the beach and most of it has now gone. We went out there this morning and there were people lunging at it with spades and sharp implements trying to chop pieces off so they could make off with it and make their fortunes. Whether people are now going to try and pass it off on TradeMe (the New Zealand equivalent of eBay) as highly valuable ambergris remains to be seen."
What this blob means cosmically remains to be seen. In all probability, it is just one very large and disgusting red herring!
Ahab, don’t bother. The whale is not that elusive white one which you seek. In all probability, the situation is about as romantic as the fact that he ate something that simply didn’t agree with him.
(A fortune hunter, perhaps?)
New Zealand Beach Mystery Blob: Moby Dick or Moby Yuck?
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