Scientists have discovered a huge amount of hidden treasure inside a gigantic whale carcass that washed up on a beach of the Canary Island of La Palma. A sperm whale was found to have a staggering £425,000 worth of 'floating gold' in it's stomach which an expert believes contributed to the creature's death. Antonio Fernández Rodríguez, the head of the institute of animal health and food security at the University of Las Palmas, studied the corpse and although local authorities were stumped by the whale's death, he put it down to one thing: ambergris. After studying the animal's colon, Rodriguez said that he managed to find a hard. object stuck in its intestine which he managed to cut out. Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter Rodriguez said: "What I took out was a stone about 50-60cm in diameter weighing 9.5kg. 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. "The waves were washing over the whale. Everyone was watching when I returned to the beach but they didn’t know that what I had in my hands was ambergris." However, ambergris isn't like the stereotypical type of gold or treasure that you would usually associate with the sea, or even pirates for that matter. Ambergris, is a prize possession of perfumers around the globe, hence its value, and is made up of undigested squid and cuttlefish that the whale has vomited. Even though it sounds disgusting, the extremely rare substance is actually said to smell of wood, and this particular piece of ambergris was reportedly worth €500,000 (£425,000). The university are now hoping to find a buyer for the item with fund set to go towards the victims of the 2021 La Palma volcano eruption. Rodriguez adds: "The law is different in every country. In our case, I hope the money will go to the island of La Palma, where the whale ran aground and died." Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

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Virgil Van Dijk has weighed into the debate over Trent Alexander-Arnold’s best position by proclaiming his Liverpool team-mate as the complete package. Alexander-Arnold delivered another reminder of his attacking talents as he got forward to strike a fine equaliser for the Reds in Saturday’s 1-1 draw at champions Manchester City. The 25-year-old right-back had spent a lot of a tight Premier League encounter in defensive mode, trying to contain City’s tricky Belgium winger Jeremy Doku. It was a sweet moment for Alexander-Arnold after plenty of debate over the past fortnight over whether or how he can fit into the England team. Van Dijk, the Liverpool captain, said: “I think everyone this season, as a defender, one v one against Doku will have a tough afternoon. He’s a very good dribbler. “But I don’t think he had a tough afternoon on the whole. It’s how you defend them together and try to get two v one in situations and, in the end, I’m pleased for him that he got the equaliser. “He offers a lot defensively and, obviously in possession, he has qualities that are very special and he shows that as well, so he has the complete package. “He has to keep doing what he’s doing, keep improving, keep that high standard he has for himself and we all have for him as well.” Alexander-Arnold has expanded his game over the past year, not only playing as a conventional attacking full-back but also in a hybrid defence-central midfield role. His recent England outings against Malta and North Macedonia were also in midfield and Van Dijk admits he does not know where he will ultimately end up. “I don’t know, that’s for the coaches that work with him,” said the centre-back. “I think for the moment he’s playing just fine where he is right now. “He has that freedom to mix it up and he has to do that because you see teams are working it out at times, so he has to be able to switch from staying on the outside and going on the inside as well. “I think it’s a good learning curve for him as well and (on Saturday) he did that well because obviously he was playing against one of the most in-form wingers at the moment.” Saturday’s result kept Liverpool within a point of title favourites City and, after the frustration of failing to challenge last season, Van Dijk hopes the 2020 champions can push them much closer this time. The Dutchman said: “It’s no secret we want to challenge for everything we are competing in and this year we are looking consistent, something we were missing last year. “But we are in November with a difficult period coming up, difficult games ahead of us. Anything can happen but hopefully, if we don’t get many injuries or no injuries, we have to confident and give it everything.” Read More Man City boss Pep Guardiola taking safety-first approach with John Stones Jacksonville Jaguars hold off Houston Texans to remain in charge of AFC South All-conquering Jannik Sinner inspires Italy to Davis Cup glory Beth Mead scores first goal in over a year as WSL top three maintain momentum Alejandro Garnacho has the potential to do some amazing things – Erik ten Hag Players and fans evacuated from York Barbican as fire disrupts UK Championship

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