Floating gold

[Blak bart]

This piece of ambergris was found on the island of san salvador bahamas this spring. I missed a very large and valuable 11 pound piece by three weeks this year. The 11 pound piece sold for 80000$. It should have sold for at least double that price. While I was in elutherea bahamas this year another piece was found near the preachers cave high up on the rocks. that piece was bought by a Japanese buyer for 12000$. this piece has not been sold and is being used to train up a tracking dog by my friends on san sal.
99.9% of people know nothing about ambergris and would walk right by it.if your a beach person then do your research and homework and you may be one of the lucky few.the smell will give it away every time, so keep your nose to the wind and your eyes on the weed line. I have been searching and finding ambergris for many years now and have only met one other person on the beach doing the same in all those years. Ok let the questions begin!!!!

 

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[ARC]

This is new to me.... the value that is.
I had no idea.

***ARC does searches on google for an Ambergris detector ***

 

[ARC]

What's Ambergris? Behind the $60k Whale-Waste Find

 

[Blak bart]

What's Ambergris? Behind the $60k Whale-Waste Find

AARC there are a very small group of us that are truly in the know about this stuff. I figure that some of the shipwreck researchers know what im talking about, as it is mentioned in a lot of the old treasure manifests.the spanish coveted it. Henry the eighth ate it with his eggs, the Pharoahs traded it. The calusa indians would paddle canoes full of it to havana to trade it for a handfull of rusty knives.it has always been roughly worth its weight in gold, if you are a strong negotiater. It is a strange world of searchers and finders, traders and brokers. I doubt that any pics have ever been posted on this sight but you never know I will have to search.enjoy your research you will be amazed at all the hoopla about it. MY quest for it has led me into bottle collecting, seaglass and sea beans, shell collecting, treasure hunting etc.

 

[s1u2r3f4]

AARC there are a very small group of us that are truly in the know about this stuff. I figure that some of the shipwreck researchers know what im talking about, as it is mentioned in a lot of the old treasure manifests.the spanish coveted it. Henry the eighth ate it with his eggs, the Pharoahs traded it. The calusa indians would paddle canoes full of it to havana to trade it for a handfull of rusty knives.it has always been roughly worth its weight in gold, if you are a strong negotiater. It is a strange world of searchers and finders, traders and brokers. I doubt that any pics have ever been posted on this sight but you never know I will have to search.enjoy your research you will be amazed at all the hoopla about it. MY quest for it has led me into bottle collecting, seaglass and sea beans, shell collecting, treasure hunting etc.

Man I'm right there with you. Keep searching!

 

[RobRieman]

Learn something new every day [emoji106]

 

[Tommybuckets]

I poke and prod anything unusual on the beach and always keep an eye out for this stuff for the past few years. I am surprised how much it looks like weathered Styrofoam. Maybe I have seen it and figured it was Styrofoam which washes up often and has the same appearance. What is the consistency, moisture content and describe the smell please?

 

[Blak bart]

I poke and prod anything unusual on the beach and always keep an eye out for this stuff for the past few years. I am surprised how much it looks like weathered Styrofoam. Maybe I have seen it and figured it was Styrofoam which washes up often and has the same appearance. What is the consistency, moisture content and describe the smell please?

It will have the consistency of wax or tar. IT will lose its moisture content over time and become lighter so it should be sold as soon as possible. It should have the presence of small brownish black specks. These can range from tiny specks to rather large cat claw like inclusions. These are the undigested squid beaks and specks of chitin from the squid bodies. The smell is very hard to pin down, it is very unique. I would call it sickeningly sweet. IT smells like manure with a sweet after smell that makes you want to take another sniff. Once you have smelled It you will never forget it. IT comes in many different colors and can look like wood , rocks, tar, or like you said aged Styrofoam or other foam core. AS it ages and oxidizes in the salt water and sun its smells change from downright foul to quite pleasant. I would compare it to cheese or wine it needs age and conditioning to attain the highest value. I once got it all over me from handling it and was banned from the house for 4 days. The smell is very hard to remove from your skin. I soon realized that I had small amounts under my finger nails. Once I cleaned my nails it was 2 more days before the smell was gone.handle it carfully if you find it its waxy greasy texture sticks to skin and clothing easily. If you ever see a guy with a big treasure coin around his neck bending down and picking up stones and foam sniffing them and throwing them over his shoulder it'll probaly be me. LOL.good luck hope you find some. I often metal detect and hunt for it at the same time.

 

[claire]

What parts of the world is it usually located?

 

[Blak bart]

What parts of the world is it usually located?

It can be found on just about anywhere with a shorline that has strong onshore winds but the bahamas and carribean are hot spots and traditional collecting areas. Newzealand and Australia are also very good for collecting. The Maldives Seychelles and other indian ocean remote islands are good. There are many islands and keys with the word ambergris in there name. A good example is ambergris cay Belize. Professional collectors will time there hunts with the annual sperm whale migrations. They will make sure they are in certain island locations at the same time these whales are offshore of these islands. A dog trained to track ambergris is invaluable. the money made from one score can finance many trips to far and exotic beaches to continue the hunt. I hunt the bahamian out islands every year. San sal, rum cay, samana cay, long island , elutherea, conception, turks and caicos etc. etc..... it helps to have a fishing job that takes me to these places every year. I'll be leaving in January for the islands and staying until june. I will hunt every spare minute I have. ALong with metal detecting and bottle and shell diving.

 

[Blak bart]

Hey claire the north east is a good area to search. Sperm whales are there alot.the big bulls migrate back and forth from the northeast to the Caribbean and gulf each year.

 

[claire]

There was whale sightings this past weekend,when I was there. The funny thing is there was also quite a bit of styrafome washing up. I should have smelled it, lol

 

[Oddjob]

I read a book last year I got from a friend of mine who works at Norway Geological Survey. It was over this same exact subject by a man called Kemp. I do not remember the full title of the book but it was something with Floating Gold. My friend gave it to me because he knows I love books but also I like gold, he said the book would blow my mind. It did not blow my mind but I did read it like 3 times and even took it with me about 8 months ago on a very long SV that last about 18 days. SV gets boring and it is nice to have something to read. The book had me all over the net checking into stuff. Since then I have been picking up many things on the beach that at first glance appear to be this.

Thats right, you guessed it, every single piece so far has been drift wood. LOL I know my chances are less than slim to none on the Adriatic, but I will not stop looking. LOL

Anyway I mentioned this to a person my wife buys her hand cream from in Venezia, he was telling me how they use it and the cutting process, man this guy went on and on about it very enthusiastic. Then he asked me if I had some, I was like what dude, no I just read a book about. He said well your wife says you are always traveling and hunting beaches all over the world and chances are I have already walked by it once and now that I know what I am looking for I could get lucky enough to do it again. He says you just call me when that day comes.

The way he acted you would have thought Italy cheated and the world cup again and won.

Cool read though man, I hope it keeps going.

 

[Blak bart]

I read a book last year I got from a friend of mine who works at Norway Geological Survey. It was over this same exact subject by a man called Kemp. I do not remember the full title of the book but it was something with Floating Gold. My friend gave it to me because he knows I love books but also I like gold, he said the book would blow my mind. It did not blow my mind but I did read it like 3 times and even took it with me about 8 months ago on a very long SV that last about 18 days. SV gets boring and it is nice to have something to read. The book had me all over the net checking into stuff. Since then I have been picking up many things on the beach that at first glance appear to be this.

Thats right, you guessed it, every single piece so far has been drift wood. LOL I know my chances are less than slim to none on the Adriatic, but I will not stop looking. LOL

Anyway I mentioned this to a person my wife buys her hand cream from in Venezia, he was telling me how they use it and the cutting process, man this guy went on and on about it very enthusiastic. Then he asked me if I had some, I was like what dude, no I just read a book about. He said well your wife says you are always traveling and hunting beaches all over the world and chances are I have already walked by it once and now that I know what I am looking for I could get lucky enough to do it again. He says you just call me when that day comes.

The way he acted you would have thought Italy cheated and the world cup again and won.

Cool read though man, I hope it keeps going.

I too have read kemps book. It is titled " floating gold" as my post is. Ambergris has always been known as floating gold. The people that are involved in the trade are indeed enthusiastic to say the least. Many have no problem traveling from the other side of the planet to purchase your find in a moments notice. They come with cash in hand and im sure if you requsted gold in exchange it could be arranged. Kemp relates a story in his book about one hunter running down a rival hunter with his 4x4 on a remote beach. You know , the whole eliminate your competition thing. It is a fiercely competitive and highly secretive industry.i actually sank into a week long depression when I first learned about it. I realized that I had wasted hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of it through my own ignorance. I was then sure that I would be rich within a week.it has been three years since I have found any. I continue to search because I know its not if its when. You probably have a better chance of recovering a gold coin in the sand than finding this substance. It truly is one of the rarist and most treasured substances on the planet.every one that researches the subject of ambergris will come to kemps book because it is one of the only ones on the subject. There are some marine biologists papers written about it, and some other articles here and there., but the info dwindles fast. it is a very secrative industry. It has rekindled my enthusiasm for beachcombing and treasure hunting in general.the fire in my belly burns hotter and my efforts have been redoubled. I cant wait to get back to the bahamas this season. good luck to all those that quest for it.
P.S. oddjob my father is from Genoa and my uncle lives in Verrazzi. I hope to get over next summer to metal detect. Any advice.

 

[Oddjob]

I too have read kemps book. It is titled " floating gold" as my post is. Ambergris has always been known as floating gold. The people that are involved in the trade are indeed enthusiastic to say the least. Many have no problem traveling from the other side of the planet to purchase your find in a moments notice. They come with cash in hand and im sure if you requsted gold in exchange it could be arranged. Kemp relates a story in his book about one hunter running down a rival hunter with his 4x4 on a remote beach. You know , the whole eliminate your competition thing. It is a fiercely competitive and highly secretive industry.i actually sank into a week long depression when I first learned about it. I realized that I had wasted hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of it through my own ignorance. I was then sure that I would be rich within a week.it has been three years since I have found any. I continue to search because I know its not if its when. You probably have a better chance of recovering a gold coin in the sand than finding this substance. It truly is one of the rarist and most treasured substances on the planet.every one that researches the subject of ambergris will come to kemps book because it is one of the only ones on the subject. There are some marine biologists papers written about it, and some other articles here and there., but the info dwindles fast. it is a very secrative industry. It has rekindled my enthusiasm for beachcombing and treasure hunting in general.the fire in my belly burns hotter and my efforts have been redoubled. I cant wait to get back to the bahamas this season. good luck to all those that quest for it.
P.S. oddjob my father is from Genoa and my uncle lives in Verrazzi. I hope to get over next summer to metal detect. Any advice.

My mate in Norway was the one who put me on to it, he also picked out my gold claim for me as well. He said that he had grown up this way and as far as he knew his father learned this passed down from his grandfather and so on. He said that in Norway it is not hard at all to find this stuff but he has never found anything over 1200 grams. His buyer comes in out of Switzerland, but I did not ask a name. Said next time I was up at my claim that he would take me out.

What I found most interesting about it was the lack of BS Blogs, which is any blog. I have access to many secured data bases either from my own academic and professional publishing’s or through the agency I work for. Ton of science stuff on this topic and very little BS on it. Even better Kemps book was not a POD (Print on Demand), not that this is good or bad but clearly his publisher thought highly of it.

I do not go out looking for the stuff, I do keep an eye open for it though, we bring in 6 figures just from our hobby in MDing and Gold Mining, not really any room left for another hobby that I do not know anything about.

Your friend training his dog is on to something with that, the guy in Norway has 3 hounds he uses, says this has been normal in his family since he could remember. He made the trip over to the Faroe´s a couple years back, he showed me pictures. He had nothing over 800 grams but that did not matter because he had a total of 13,000+ grams from two weeks work. He claims that Greenland is much better.

I will keep my eyes open, but better than that I hope you come back here with one heck of a banner find. Best of luck to you out there.

 

[Blak bart]

Thanks for the encouraging words oddjob. The Norwegian people have always been at the top of all things whale related. I read a scientific paper done on Ambergris and all the research was done from the whaling stations on the faroe islands at the end of the whaling era. IT involved catch records, percent of whales that contained ambergris, pounds of ambergris recovered annually etc.etc. I think I speak for everyone on this site when I say that I envy your position to be a fulltime MDer. I thought I was pretty lucky to be able to fish and dive and take my boss on treasure hunts for a living, but I must say you might be having a little bit more fun doing what you love than even I am. I have seen a lot of your finds and it is truly amazing to me. Good luck to you in your adventures too. I am considering putting off my trip to italy this summer , and heading to iceland or greenland this summer. many fantistic rubies are being found in greenland too, they are of the finest pigeon blood red in color and large carat. Whats the worst that could happen ?? a fantastic vacation!!! my wife is already on board, she knows what the ambergris is all about.!!