Yemeni fishermen find fortune inside whale

Coming across some treasure in the belly of a whale has dramatically impacted a community of fishermen on the Yemeni coast.

Abdulhakeem and his fellow fishermen chanced upon the drifting mammal carcass as they were putting out to sea for the day's fishing.

Fares Abdulhakeem: "I head out to sea everyday in search of my daily catch. And on one of those days, we found a dead whale. It turned out to be a whale full of ambergris."

Ambergris, highly sought after by high end perfumers, is an unearthly smelling compound used to stabilise scent.

The waxy lumps, found in the digestive tract of a tiny minority of sperm whales, are thought to prevent intestinal damage by coating the sharp squid beaks the mammals ingest.

When the men had hauled the giant cadaver ashore and slit it open, they made the rare find of a colossal 12 kilogramme mass of ambergris.

Sold to an Emirati businessman for a princely $1.5 million, the extraordinary windfall has reshaped the lives of the fishermen involved. In war-torn Yemen, ranked amongst the most impoverished countries worldwide according to the UN, this stroke of fortune has considerably eased the men's burden.

Fares Abdulhakeem: "Many people made a good use of it. There are those who bought boats, others built or fixed their houses. I built my house - I built my future. The circumstances here are already difficult."

Even though their financial circumstances have altered beyond recognition, the sea is their lifeblood, so these fishermen won't be turning their backs on the ocean.

Salim Sharf: "We are simple people, fishermen looking for our catch everyday. If you found your catch for the day, you thank God. Suddenly, the Most Merciful gave us this."

View Less