The oceans hold many surprises but none is stranger than the grey, waxy lumps occasionally found floating on the surface or washed up on beaches. When Omani fisherman, Khalid al Sinani, hauled up an 80kg lump of the stuff with his catch, he knew what he'd found: ambergris. A vomited up by-product of digestion in sperm whales, ambergris is highly prized as a fixative in perfume-making. It's sufficiently valuable for 30-something al Sinani to have retired on the proceeds, making him someone who'll presumably never look the same way again at either vomit or the sea.