Kiwis Carve Up Washed Up Mystery Lump

[mrmoshe]

Kiwis carve up washed up mystery lump

A LARGE chunk of something unpleasant has washed up on a New Zealand beach, and the locals are excited.

Some say the "disgusting" squarish white block, the size of a 44-gallon drum, is cheese - possibly brie, while others believe it is ambergris, or whale vomit.

And that has solved the problem for council workers who were wondering how to remove the 500kg mystery object that washed up on a beach in Wellington.

The lump washed up at Breaker Bay at the weekend and once word got out that it could be valuable ambergris - an excretion from whales that is used to make perfume - locals pillaged it, the New Zealand Press Associationr reported.

Ambergris can sell for thousands of dollars per kilogram and Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said it was like "some sort of bizarre gold rush" on the beach yesterday.

"We went out there this morning and there were people sort of lunging at it with spades and sharp implements trying to chop pieces off so they could make off with it and make their fortunes," he said.

"Whether people are now going to try and pass it off on TradeMe as highly valuable ambergris remains to be seen."

But because the lump was a regular shape, the general consensus is that it islard or cooking fat.

Initial suggestions were that it might be a huge lump of cheese which had fallen off a boat, but either way, Mr MacLean said it was foul.

"It's disgusting. I've got a piece of it beside my desk and everyone in the office is pretty much grossed out by it."

He said there was probably no need to get it tested unless issues arose around people attempting to sell it.