Finding Natural Pearls

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Most people may never experience the thrill of finding a natural pearl in their lifetimes. Here are a few videos that you may enjoy a part of my work too.

Finding a Natural Black Pearl

 

[MSC]

Awesome, thank you for sharing!

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Finding a Natural White Pearl

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Finding a Natural Pearl

 

[JerseyPearl]

Very cool...much more interesting than those horrid Facebook openings, for sure!

 

[BWeaves]

That's what I was just thinking. This is what finding a pearl really looks like.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Finding Two Natural Blisters and Five Natural Root Beer Pearls

 

[Marianne]

Thanks for posting "the real thing", Dave. So beautiful!

 

[Sanippy]

Awesome!! Thanks for sharing.

 

[CathyKeshi]

Authentic, genuine, and so exciting ... fantastic, Dave! I am surprised at how large the mussels are.

 

[Pareltje]

Those are really a LOT of mussels. Thanks for sharing, Dave.

 

[pearlescence]

Plus..can you eat the molluscs?

 

[Floridapearl]

Awesome! For how many molluscs did you have to film the opening process until you actually found one pearl live on camera?

 

[MSC]

Thanks for posting "the real thing", Dave. So beautiful!

Exactly this! Now this is a pearl party I'd like to attend.
I was curious about whether the mussel is good eating like some other mussels I've eaten, since it's pretty large.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Plus..can you eat the molluscs?

Not the ones near marinas or populated areas. I'll eat small mussels from remote reefs though.

Crab and prawn fishing is a popular pastime in the area. Crustaceans loooooove shellfish. I make frozen popsicles to put in their traps.

I've edited the videos for brevity, but everything collected is reused. Tissues are sent to labs where it's used to test for health and safety issues. Most shells are returned to the water to neutralize my carbon footprint or measured for thickness and growth rate analysis. This data is compared to archaeological shells cast ashore on the uplands and the rings of trees nearby. I'll retain shells with blisters or pearls attached. Occasionally, I'll do talks or walks for aquariums, schools and other youth groups and mix them with other shells, letting kids have a treasure hunt. It's adds fun to a learning experience by enabling their own curiosities through observation. Feeding bits of mussel meat to anemones or other creatures is also a fun, hands-on lesson of life in the intertidal zone. There's something very rewarding when youngsters report back to you after finding something, repeating what they learned earlier.

Targeted samples go to the paleontology and stratigraphy lab at the University of Granada, Spain. Namely microscopic clusters of pearls, where they are analyzed in association with the cellular structure their soft tissues. In this manner, we learn how pearl structures may be modified though incidental, seasonal or long term climate changes. Or how natural pearls come to be.

I have unedited video of several collection processes and will upload a few clips in the near future.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Awesome! For how many molluscs did you have to film the opening process until you actually found one pearl live on camera?

Good question.

Over many years of observation and collection, I've determined natural pearls occur in limited patches. I return to these reefs on a sustainable rotation schedule, targeting specific sampling needs. Being self-regulated, I voluntarily comply with the same rules recreational harvesters are entitled to in the province for food purposes.

That means on any given day when the reefs within my tenure are accessible though lunar/tidal cycles, I'll collect 75 pieces. More than half yield pearls worthy of retention.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Occasionally we experience severe storms or hurricanes. This often causes mussels to be dislodged, cast ashore and mortality. I've identified areas where this is concentrated. It's dirty, smelly work with low incidence, but sometimes find terrific pearls.

Old docks, barges and other structures some times may be hauled out for cleaning or disposal, I'll often be seen salvaging samples from these.

 

[BWeaves]

More than half yield pearls worthy of retention.

Wow, that high a percentage? I would have guessed way less.

 

[Lagoon Island Pearls]

Here's a clip collecting Rock Oysters (Pododesmus macrochisma). These are the shells bearing nearly transparent, brilliant green natural pearls.

 

[MSC]

Dave, thank you for sharing all that you do with us on here! It's a wonderful education for everyone.

Just curious, when you ship tissue samples overseas are you fixing in 95% ethanol or another solution? Relevant for my own tissue sample shipping.