Completely new to this - I have a question

[sweetchilli]

Hi all

I joined this forum to help feed my curiosity.

I have a question and forgive me if it is silly (I hope it's not) but I don't know much about pearls. All I know is that they can be cultivated in some kind of oyster farm or they can occur naturally.

The question I have is do pearls remain locked in oysters? Or can they sometimes fall out and sink in the water? If one entered the ocean, could one find pearls on the ocean floor? Or is this a rare occurrence?

 

[GemGeek]

It isn't common, but it can happen. There is an island where little gold pearls are said to be picked out of the sand by the locals. Very rarely, a scuba diver finds something, but it usually isn't in good shape after being on the ocean floor. Interesting question.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Pearls and shells are calcium carbonate and protein. When a mollusk dies naturally, the protein component dissolves away gradually and the shell crumbles or becomes packed in sediments.

A pearl can dislodge any time, but most will fall away after it's mortality. In fact, almost 100% of natural pearls never leave the sea.

Even if a loose pearl is luckily found on the sea floor, it would likely be stained, peeling and/or porous.

 

[juliebeth]

i figured they'd decompose pretty quickly, but i wonder are fossilized pearls ever found in the right sea-floor sedimentary geologic layers...? i shall go google.

 

[sweetchilli]

Thank you all for your much valued feedback. I feel satisfied that I've learnt a few new things from you guys.

GemGeek:- Picking gold pearls out of sand? Now that sounds like fun!

Dave:- Thanks for your invaluable knowledge. I guess what you say makes sense with regard to a pearl most likely being stained, peeling and/or porous if it were to be found on the sea floor.

juliebeth:- I guess fossilised pearls are possible too; no matter how unlikely. Now you've got me intrigued!

 

[SunSeeker]

As a scuba diver with over 500 dives logged (which isn't really that many dives), I always keep my eyes open for pearls. But I've never found any, yet

Kathleen