Experts have discovered the cause of death for a sperm whale that washed up unexpectedly on the shores of Spain’s La Palma island - €500,000 of “floating gold”.<br /><br />The impressive discovery was made after experts from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria carried out a post-mortem, with authorities initially unsure how the 15-ton, 13-metre-long whale washed up on Nogales beach last month.<br /><br />“When I dissected and removed the stone I turned around and everyone on the beach looked at me in surprise, but for me at that moment I understood where the origin of the infection was coming from,” Antonio Fernández Rodríguez, the head of the Institute of Animal Health and Food Security at the university, said.<br /><br />The stone, he explained, was a large lump of precious ambergris, a rare substance sometimes known as “floating gold”.<br /><br />Highly prized by perfumers, the 9.5 kg lump found in the whale can sell for up to €500,000 (£430,000).
