She Thought It Was Beach Plastic. It Was Ambergris That Can Cost More Than Gold.

MELBOURNE BEACH, Fla., Oct. 27, 2026 — Kristen Marvin bent down for what looked like melted plastic on Melbourne Beach. It was light, waxy and nothing like a rock. She smelled it anyway.

It was ambergris, the rare sperm-whale byproduct perfume makers once prized as "floating gold," the Daily Mail reported. Mature pieces can sell for as much as about $10,000 an ounce overseas, more than double a typical gold price cited in the same reporting. Marvin floated a piece in water and poked it with a hot needle; white smoke rose, a common field test beachcombers use.

This was her third find since 2024. She runs a turtle nonprofit and says she would rather show the pieces to children than cash them in. That choice is also the only legal one here. NOAA Fisheries says ambergris is a part from an endangered marine mammal, so collecting, keeping or selling it is barred in the United States.

Marvin reported each discovery to federal authorities, The Asia Business Daily reported, citing the same account. She turned one lump over to a whale conservation group and keeps the others in case officials ask for them. The beach still looks like plastic until it does not.