Unusual Cortez Mabe Blisters

 

Whoa! This year we have a very special group of out-of-the-ordinary Cortez Blister Pearls…why are these so Special??? Well, let me explain:

1. Many of these are BIG! As you are well aware our “Rainbow Lip Pearl Oyster” (Pteria sterna) is NOT a Big oyster, more of a mid-sized animal…just between the large “black/silver/gold lips” (Pinctada margaritifera & Pinctada maxima) and the smaller “Akoya Pearl Oyster” (Pinctada imbricata=fucata). The average size of our Cortez Mabe Pearls is 14 mm in diameter.
2. These Cortez Mabe are VERY BAROQUE, or beyond baroque or simply put: Naturally Shaped. Our Mabe Pearls are never identical and are mostly free-form but leaning towards oval and teardrop shapes.
3. Their RARITY: this group is very unusual and rare…just 21 pearls out of a harvest of over 2 thousand that we harvested in 2014. Yes, basically just 1.05% of last year’s harvest!
4. Their ORIGIN: now, this is the final nail in the coffer in a manner of speaking! Why, because this group is basically made up of 100% Natural Blister Pearls that have –for the first time- been processed into Mabe.

Are these really Natural????

Yes. And there is a special story to these. Let me tell you this story.

Back in 2012, when we were seeding our pearl oysters we started to notice something odd in them…snails. There were hundreds of these snails we had never seen before. There were so many that we found them with the oysters and we started noticing some INSIDE of the Rainbow Lips too!

At that same time we received a group of Malacologists from Florida and we told them about this issue, they kept some specimens and headed back. Manuel and I started looking for the name of this unknown snail and we came up with the same name, later we received confirmation from Florida: Vitularia salebrosa, an ecto-parasitic snail of the Murex family. This blew my mind!

I had never seen such a variety of snail before and I had never seen how they actually found their way inside the oyster’s shell to suck its blood like an armored leech (yes, they suck the blood of its host), you can actually read all about it in this scientifically detailed article.

Well, the oysters don’t have their “Vampire Hunters” but instead they use the millennia old trick they know all too well: if it harms you, turn it into something beautiful…just make a Pearl!

But at the moment I was looking at these snails I just wanted to know more about them, and because of this I just left the snail inside the oysters allowing Nature to follow its course. And Nature did its thing.

We collected and photographed some of these nails, we found them in all colors and sizes. That year was the year of the Parasitic Snail.

We find them rarely these days. Must have been one of those “weird natural cycles” that Nature usually surprises us with. Unfortunately I can’t seem to find the photos I took of these snails as they were being coated with protein by the oyster. I kept one shell with its snail, but dehydration has pretty much damaged the shell.

This is the first time ever such an event has been described with these species of mollusks.

Another very interesting and noticeable feature is what I would call “Health”. Sick or unhappy oysters usually have a very dull shell, whereas “happy” or healthy oysters display beautiful colors. The oyster shell with the parasitic snail looks quite unhappy.

So, now you finally understand why these pearls are all so Special and Unique. In a way they tell us a unique story of how we can all withstand pain, endure and ultimately create something beautiful from it.

If oysters can do it so can we do it. It is your choice to create your own glorious pearl.

These pearls will soon become available for purchase in our e-Sales website

Technorati Tags: blister pearls,vampire pearls,Vitularia rasemosa,Pteria sterna,natural pearl production

, but you can also write to secure your own! Remember we only have 21 of these ready for you to set them in Jewelry and enjoy Nature’s perplexing beauty.

P.S.: I hope you don’t write in to tell me that “Pearls are produced by a Grain of Sand”. I finally have overcome my anxiety towards this myth and won’t go into a fit ;)

Cheers!!!

A Hurricane’s Unseen Victims

We just survived hurricane "Odile", thankfully we just recieved some rains (unlike "Jimena" in 2009, when it poured like a deluge) but the winds were strong enough to cause some problems: the winds caused some good height waves (there were reports of some reaching up to 6 meters/19 feet in our locality). The damage to the farm was basically confined to a collapsed access to the "palapa" work area, so we will be unable to offer guided tours to the pearl farm until repairs, hoping to be ready for tours by mid-October.

In La Paz, Cabo San Lucas and other communities in Baja California Sur they suffered significant damage in homes, hotels and shops, as well as road, electrical infrastructure and drinking water supply (which again reminds us of "July" and "Jimena", which wreaked havoc in Guaymas). We send our sincere wishes of speedy recovery to our brothers Sud Californians.

And here is where it all ends for most people: in the material and human damage. But I think that most people forget a further victim: our environment .

This past October 16 - after the passage of the effects of "Odile" - I went to walk at the beach just in front of Hotel Marinaterra’s "Beach Club” in San Carlos, a beautiful area formerly known as "Shangri-Lah". It’s a small bay with rocky reefs, a semi sandy-rocky beach and a beautiful island covered with Cactii. I have enjoyed this little cove since the first time I visited it in 1988, and it has always had an interesting fauna so it is a good place to snorkel. It saddened me to see it this way...

Garbage

The first thing that I could see were several large garbage heaps, mainly consisiting of soft drink (PET) and household cleaner plastic containers, plastic bags, assorted footwear (including tennis, shoes and flip flops), car tires, pieces of PVC pipe, pieces of home appliances (TVs, radios, VCRs, etc.).. imagine I was even fortunate to see a couple of old audio tapes! (I had years without seeing one), varied clothing articles and accessories (sunglasses, caps & hats). And this without counting the contaminating elements that we cannot see, as I am certain there would be all kinds of chemicals in the water such as petroleum derivatives (oil, paints and pesticides) and that of cleaning products (chloride and others).

It is really sad to see these trash pits and to know that this happens partly because the waves destroyed and carried away whatever was in their way, but also because rain water dragged all this garbage to the sea. Our sea and our beaches have become an unofficial haven for our trash.

But besides garbage, there are many other concerns: the thousands to millions of innocent victims of these natural phenomenons: marine animals. Sadly, I discovered dozens of different groups of dead fish: eels, seahorses, stingrays, snappers, Cardinals, Snappers and puffers. This was sad, but these fatalities where followed by even larger quantities of dead invertebrates.

Fan corals

These typical corals from the sea of Cortez are fished out to satisfy tourists. They are few in numbers and it takes them many years to grow. These primitive animals resemble the old "hand fans" and therefore they recieve this common name. On this occasion I found hundreds of these corals on the beach, comprised of at least 4 different species, but two species were more common: the "Purple coral" and "fire coral", the latter I consider as the most beautiful in the Gulf. And along with these corals I found yet another “victim”: the “Rainbow Lipped Pearl oyster”, which is the species that we grow at the pearl farm here in Guaymas.

Rainbow Lips have this habit of attaching to fan corals for growth and protection, and this is why one of this specie’s common names is "Tree Scallop", since fishermen are well aware that they can obtain them from corals ("trees") and from this animal they can obtain the adductor muscle which is known as "scallop".

Among the corals that I collected on the beach I found some 15 small rainbow lip oysters.

Molluscs

Thousands of mollusks died on this beach. I found several varieties of snails –such as the Cone (Conus), turban (Turbo), Conchs (Strombus)- mussels, clams, scallops, Arks and black-lipped oysters. Their hard shells shattered by waves and rocks. Some of the animals I saw were very weak but still alive; but most had been shatered to pieces. Animals that seemed to have a better survival rate were the black-lips, most of which only had their external shell fully polished. I did not find an Octopus, I assume most are skilled enough to escape the violent waves.

Technorati Tags: hurricane odile,destruction,ecology,Guaymas,starfish,sea fans,tikkum olam

Echinoderms

This is yet another group that suffered great losses... mainly among the stars and sea cucumbers. I did not find a single Hedgehog or sea biscuit, but this may mean that the fragile shells of these organisms were "sprayed" in waves and rocks. I collected several dozen at least 3 different species of sea stars, but the beach was covered by hundreds of these. Sea cucumbers were a not very common variety, which is buried in the sand.

Marine Worms

Most of the people do not feel like some marine worms: they are not very "nice" and some are frankly aggressive and cause pain. This group met at least 3 species... several specimens of "fire worm" (a species of polychaete that has thousands of cirrios (pimples) which deliver an excruciating poison who touch them. Without however the group most numerous was the sipunculans and priapulidos (nice name)... worms that are buried in the sand. Some of the worms arrived to measure up to 40-50 cm long.

Perhaps many of these animals do not cause more disgust some people, others perhaps cause 'concern' to put to sea (really are harmless) and for others they are simply them indifferent... but for my all these animals are valuable and "beautiful"; These bodies fulfilled a very important role in our ecosystem and make possible the perfect functioning of the Gulf of California. If we have love for our sea, it means that we also have self-esteem and by these animals... our making effort to not POLLUTE our seas and beaches do not become landfill or garbage cans, but also do whatever is in our hands to protect these animals directly.

I was recently at a seminar and we had a couple of spectacular speakers. Almost at the end of the event told us a story – it could be real or fictitious, but this is not important - which I would now like to share:

After a night storm, a man was walking along the beach. The Sun came out and discovered a beach with thousands of Starfish began to die from desiccation. He continued walking until he found a child who took the stars and returned them to the sea. There were thousands and thousands of stars, so his effort seemed futile.

Man approaches the boy and says: "boy, not you see that you're not going has make any difference?" They are miles of beach and thousands of stars! "."

The child - even with a starfish in his hand - is thoughtful. He then throws back to the sea star and replied to the man: "Therefore for the stars that I returned and did a huge difference".

This story brings us a great moral: even though our personal contribution limit to not throw trash and tell others that they pulled it... because we are doing a very good thing!. And if for some reason you decide that you can even help to collect the trash existing then are doing something bigger and a greater difference!.

If you are going to extract or buy shells or corals from fishermen, better invite you to do so and who better to collect what you find on the beaches. Corals, snails and oysters take many years to grow and may disappear from our bays, which subtract us colour, diversity and beauty.

I invite you to be part of those who make the difference and not part of those living in the INDIFFERENCE. We are like the child of the moral. This is a crucial part of tikkum olam.

Until next time.

Photo taken from here.

Pearls & the Environment, Part 3

Obtaining the "Seeds" for your Farm

In order to “fatten” or grow your pearl oysters from a “juvenile” stage, what many refer to as “seed” or "spat" (oysters measuring between 2 and 8 mm), you either buy your little oysters from specialized bivalve producing lab-facility, or you must establish a "wild spat collection" program. "Lab-raised spat" can be a very good option, but it may have a few disadvantages that are solvable. Let us first consider the advantages and then the disadvantages of Laboratory produced Juveniles:

• You may have your spat at the desired schedule for your operation.
• You can have all the spat you need for your farm.
• Juveniles will have a very similar size (homogeneous) and growth rate.
• The “Lab” may not produce spat for you due to a lack of demand (important if you use native or endemic species).
• The quality of the spat may be very low (=high mortality and or lower growth).
• The spat may have low genetic variability, since they come from a small group of “parents”. 

The advantages of obtaining "spat” from wild-collectors are many, but it also has its disadvantages:

• The seed is inexpensive (almost free!)
• The spat has undergone a "natural selection" process, where only the "stronger" (or “luckiest”) survived.
• There is much genetic variability within the group, which makes them less likely to die from some environmental change or a disease.

However, in regard to the disadvantages we have:

You fully depend on the environment to capture your baby-pearl oysters, and it is becoming increasingly more difficult to predict the exact time for spat-collection (due to environmental changes) and

It is almost impossible to predict the amount of seed that you are going to obtain and, in addition

• Your Juveniles will have variable sizes (heterogeneous) and you simply
• Do not know the group’s their "genetic make-up": you could end up with “oyster-duds”. 
  Technorati Tags: Spat collection,genetic pollution,pearl oyster culture,pearl farming

Therefore, it is necessary to carry out, for months or even years, proper tests to find the most suitable areas for spat collection and understand in detail the reproductive behavior of the pearl oysters within the area of cultivation. Still, it's easy to mess-up and obtain fewer than the desired amount of spat, so a mixed strategy can be more profitable: use both laboratory and wild–caught spat.

At our farm in Guaymas, we have been blessed with good seed collection areas that have allowed us to rely 100% on wild-caught spat since 1994, but we have experienced environmental disruptive phenomena (such as an "El Niño” or a "La Niña” Year) that have caused us major problems in this area. However, seed production laboratories in the region do not sell pearl oyster spat... due to a lack of customers.

So far we have only seen this strategy –the use of spat or “seed”- to start your pearl farm, but in a future post we’ll also discuss the other strategy: gathering large, wild-bred pearl oysters... but even before we compare all these strategies: how do you think these strategies can affect the environment? Surely the answer will surprise you (unless you already know something about this topic)...

 

What can happen if I use "Lab-Raised Spat"?

If this strategy is used properly, your farm can enjoy an uninterrupted supply of juvenile oysters, without ever having to depend on the environment’s natural supply. But, as with so many other things in which Humans get their hands-in, it can also lead to at a least pair of "unfortunate" environmental problems. Among these we have "Genetic Pollution" and also the world-wide occurrences of "massive pearl oyster mortalities". Here's why:

Setting: Japan, in the early 1960's when the pearl aquaculture industry began a period of growth that seemed inexhaustible... thousands of pearl farms with their hundreds of rafts and thousands of culture cages, all inside the crowded bays of this island nation. With millions of "Akoya-gai" pearl oysters in culture there simply there were no more “wild-bred” pearl oysters available (most of these had been fished out to supply the pearl aquaculture industry) and there was not enough wild spat for the farmers. Since the Japanese people have been using research to advance their aquaculture technology, they generated enough knowledge to be able to rear laboratory-produced juveniles of all types of mollusks. Under this production system all that is needed is to procure a couple of oysters, an "Adam and Eve" if you will; from this couple you will be able to obtain millions of baby oysters (a female oyster can produce -depending on the species and other conditions- between 100,000 and 1 million eggs in a single "egg discharge") or “spat”.

The problem that may be generated under this system is that all your oysters are descendants of this single pair of oysters (your “studs”), thus they are all siblings, and genetically speaking: these oysters are very similar (but not identical, remember that there is a genetic effect known as "Genetic Recombination" which makes it possible for an increase in genetic differences). This makes them more likely to react similarly to environmental change or disease: if one of them becomes sick... most likely all others will too. This problem can be avoided using a larger number of parent oysters or "studs" and we will gain a much greater genetic variability among our pearl oysters. Unfortunately, once producers have used this productive system, they will immediately begin with the selection of "strains" or “Breeds” of genetically improved oyster stock, in which the parents are selected solely based on characteristics that are considered as desirable, such as:

A faster growth rate

• Better Shell-Shape and/or
• Better Shell color (=color of the pearl)

And this is where a vicious cycle can begin, having no end in sight until its consequences become catastrophic, yet very few seem to care about this problem. Originally, pearl oysters are selected with the characteristics of faster growth rate and shell color, and from these you get a first generation (F1) of oysters that may be larger, grow better and produce pearls with a more similar color. Initially, this is something very good for the producer, since he’ll have the ability to introduce just the “right product” for the mass market: most pearls will be very similar and you can produce tens of thousands of identical pieces.

However, if the the farmer re-runs the selection of brood stock (from the F1 or first generation) he will be able to further refine these characteristics: the pearl oysters will grow even faster and will have a better color selection. And so, the process is repeated for several generations... until his organisms (let us say, in their F10) become "genetically depressed" in a process known as inbreeding.

I ask the question again: What does the Environment think of this? How can we affect the Environment? Well, let us gather some information from the Wikipedia on this topic:

 

Inbreeding is the reproduction from the mating of two genetically related parents, which can increase the chances of offspring being affected by recessive or deleterious traits. This generally leads to a decreased fitness of a population, which is called inbreeding depression. Deleterious alleles causing inbreeding depression can subsequently be removed through culling, which is also known as genetic purging.

Thus, growers should avoid the phenomenon of "genetic depression" through a less stringent selection or by introducing "new blood" -originating from wild oysters- so as to avoid this  negative phenomenon.

 

Negative Environmental Impact from using Lab-raised Spat

Although I would like to say that there is absolutely no negative impact, I must declare just the opposite. There is evidence that the use of lab-raised organisms can have an effect known as "genetic pollution" upon the wild-bred populations. This is something that is believed –by some- to have had affected the Japanese populations of Akoya-gai (Pinctada imbricata) oysters and could have helped cause the already known mass mortalities of pearl oysters. How so? Because of the production of sexually-infertile chromosome-altered oysters know as polyploids. These oysters are supposed to be infertile, thus the energy an oyster devotes to reproduction is instead spent on growth…a great thing for any pearl farmer, but as with all good ideas some are not that good. So, some of these unfertile polyploidy began reproducing, their altered gametes giving rise to some “Franken-Oysters” that settled in Japan’s bays, becoming part of the Akoya-gai’s “gene pool”.

But why do these things happen??? Because we cannot put a leash on Nature, because we just lack the Humility to accept that sometimes we just have a great tendency to wreck things up, and very specially when it comes to the environment.

This aspect is similar to the “Wild Corn vs GMO Corn” controversy: pearl oysters are key species in many ecosystems and they also have cultural-value in many lands, why not just take care of the critters and raise decent cultured pearls and doing it in the best possible way? Well, there is always someone who goes the extra-mile to get an extra penny…seems this is what Life is all about after all.

 

The Solution

Our solution to this problem is simple: AVOID using inbred organisms, by always introducing "new blood" (wild-organisms from your locality to prevent any damage) into your selected “breed” and to always avoid using chromosomal-freaks. Mexico –among many others- is a Megadiverse country, and deserves the protection of its remaining natural resources: these belong not only to us, but to our children and all future generations, and as many have stated before: the Environment knows nothing about borders, languages or Human culture, so in essence it belongs to whole of Humanity and for all other Living beings with which we share this beautiful blue planet.

Let us learn from the mistakes of others, and avoid falling into the habit of continuously using “damage control" techniques. In the next post I will discuss the "collection of wild spat". Until next time!

 

Speaking of Natural Pearls, Part 2

Here I am, once more with the intention of sharing information about these beautiful marine gems.  On this occasion will continue with the subject of natural pearls and specifically about how these gems are created in nature.

During the era scientific enlightenment in the late 1800’s, scientists from all over the world were searching to understand how pearl oysters were able of producing pearls, and their discoveries were fascinating.  But some of the first things they discovered at to do with the internal structure of the pearl, since in order to obtain the truth it was necessary to cut open pearls and inspect their core.  And what they found is that pearls are very much like onions, at least structurally.

When an onion is cut in half what we see inside are numerous concentric layers, each stacked on the previous one, and in a similar manner pearls are produced: the original seed that caused the pearl to originate will be found at its core, surrounded by millions of micron thin layers of Aragonite.  Perhaps this is a reason why the ancient Greeks gave the name “Margarita” to the pearl, since this is also the word for “onion” (hence the name “Margaritifera” that was given in early times to many pearl producing mollusks, meaning “pearl bearer”) in that language.

The Inner structure of an Onion (left) and a Natural Pearl (right).

In the above images of an onion and a natural pearl (both cut-in-half) we can see their internal resemblance, and going further into the deeper core we can also appreciate how their core is not round, but with each additional coating of nacre (in the case of the pearl) the shape becomes rounder, softer, although most natural pearls I have personally seen are rarely 100% round, most being baroque and a good proportion of them being semi-baroque in shape (mainly in the shape of buttons, bullets and drops).

But of course we do have several types of natural pearls.  Many don’t look like the image that we have in our brains as being a pearl, but they are nonetheless pearls.  We basically have two major groups of natural pearls: blisters and loose pearls.  Of these two groups we would have subgroups as well.  Let us begin with the pearls that could be considered the most common.

 

Blister pearls

Perhaps some of the most common natural pearls are those usually referred as blister pearls in English, “ampollas” in Spanish or as “ampulles” in French, and we could even say that these laid the foundation for the eventual production of mabé pearls (also known as blister or half pearls).  These pearls are commonly found formed on the pearl oyster’s shell, as a response from a very active “Bio-terrorist” (usually an animal that actively drills through the oyster’s shell).  The reasons for this active attack on the oyster’s shell are varied and depend on the species that attacks the oyster, blister pearls being the result of the oyster’s defense mechanism against these intruders.

The varieties of organisms that “attack” the oyster’s shell are huge and include animals such as sponges, polychaete worms and drill mussels.  Many of these creatures are not really after the oysters flesh, meaning there not there to actually eat the oyster but that they are actually just looking for a “home” and have been known as “domiciliares” because they usually make their homes inside the oyster’s shell and -unfortunately for the pearl oyster-these actually weaken the shell, making it really brittle and easy to break.  Of course, these “Bioterrorists” will also come in direct contact with the oyster’s flesh and this interaction will almost certainly produce blister pearls.

There’s a variety of sponge known as, usually colored with a bright orange red or yellow with a sticky consistency, which grows on a large variety of shellfish here in the Sea of Cortez, and it seems to have a preference for the black-lipped pearl oyster (Pinctada mazatlanica).  It can cause small lump like blisters, but I have never seen any pretty specimen of pearl caused by this sponge.

Another creature capable of causing blister pearls is the infamous drill mussel or pholids.  These creatures –and here I also have to include the Cliona sponge- are actually filter feeders just like pearl oysters are, so we can be sure that they don’t attack the shell to eat the oyster’s flesh, but they have brittle shells so they need the protection of a hard substance around them.  These little creatures can actually bore stone, wood as well as sea shells.  We have seen numerous blister pearls formed by the attack of these agents, as well as in one loose pearl.  These creatures also have a preference for black-lipped pearl oysters, but may occasionally attack older individuals of the rainbow lipped pearl oyster variety (Pteria sterna).

The group of organisms which we find more interesting in the case of pearl formation of the polychaete worms, mainly those of genus Polydora: slender worms usually with a bright red coloration.  These worms have the capacity to infest pearl oysters to the point of weakening them and causing their death and in the process making the oyster produce numerous “mud blisters”, which may eventually become coated with nacre.

Shell Damage caused by Drill worms and Drill Mussels

Mud Blisters

We have examined several varieties of the so-called mud blisters and in most instances where we have found are the remains of dead drill worms, as well as good quantities of very organic mud.  It would be difficult to fully identify what causes this variety of blister pearl, but I believe that it is safe to say that it is a combination of the worm´s drilling activity and the entrance of mud due to the disappearance of the drill worm.  What caused the drill worm to disappear?  Well, we have also seen large numbers of predatory polychaete worms on the oyster’s shell and these may very well go after the drill worms and kill them, leaving their home vacated.

When removing a mud blister and cutting it in half we usually find a protective coating of protein secreted by the pearl oyster that that helps to coat the organic mud and that is in turn coated with nacre.

Unusual blister pearls

Some very unusual specimens have been found that include other varieties of animals as the cause, these include fish and crustaceans.  Perhaps the most interesting specimen is that of a small fish that was found in the shell of a Mexican black lip pearl oyster that was fished in Baja California during the last days of the 19^th century (this specimen is still kept in the American museum of natural history in New York).  The fish was identified as a “pearl fish” (family Carapidae), which are usually associated with many species of clams and oysters and sea cucumbers (please use this link if you want to see an animated diagram of a pearl fish, if you’re a proctologist you will enjoy this).  And although we have seen these fish inside oysters we have never had the fantastic opportunity of finding a “fish pearl”.

Pearl fish are not parasitic but instead they find shelter within the oyster’s shells.  I believe most oysters would not be offended by the presence of this little fish, but in this particular case may be the little fish died and the oyster preceded to rapidly coat it with pearl or nacre, I don’t believe this could've ever happen with a live fish.

Other possible sources for blister pearls

Other organisms that could be turned into pearls -but that I have never seen turned into pearls- are the little shrimp and crabs that are found inside pearl oysters.  The little translucent “pearl shrimp” are also found in many other species of clams, such as pen shells, and are typically found within the large Pinctada oysters. The species we find in the Sea of Cortez is Pontonia margarita, and we can usually find two individuals within an oyster (one male and one female, the male usually being the smaller of the two), this species does not seem to affect the pearl oyster.

Another type of crustacean we have seen inhabiting the oyster’s body is the “pea crab”; these little crabs are somewhat soft and quite clumsy, no wonder they need the protection they find inside an oyster’s shell.  These little crabs have only been reported as found living inside the Australian silver lip pearl oyster (Pinctada maxima), but the Sea of Cortez has a variety that is only found within the rainbow lipped pearl oyster (Pteria sterna) and this will be the first time this will be reported in writing.  The name of this species is still unknown (Pinnotheres sp.) and we usually only find one inside an oyster.  We have seen some crabs causing a disturbance within the oyster that could eventually lead to the production of blister pearls, but we have yet to find a “crab pearl”.

So, what do you think about all the life-forms that depend or use a pearl oyster -in a way or another- for their survival? Life is indeed a web, and if you can save one species you will be offering an “umbrella” of protection for many others…

In the next chapter I will continue talking about natural pearls and their possible origins, in the meantime I will continue hunting for additional facts and -of course- searching for more mythical pearls: I can clearly see myself wearing a pea crab pearl pendant. ;)

Author CortezPearl2016Posted on October 28, 2010Categories Gulf of California, Natural History, Natural Pearls, Pearl oysters, Pearls Myths: Uncovering the Truth

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Speaking of Natural Pearls, Part 1

This is a subject that we wanted to discuss since quite some time ago, but instead I have been discussing various topics in order to be able to capture the attention of as many readers as possible, especially since talking and educating about pearls is somewhat complex and requires greater intention. So far, despite the fact that we have already talked about “Pearl culture” and “natural pearls” -such as those once produced by Don Gaston Vivés in Baja California- there are still many people who are confused or who have received incorrect information on the subject. We have found that on Spanish language sites –by the way: this Blog is primarily for Spanish language readers, but I’ve do some effort to have an English version in order to be a bit more “universal” -there is from none to very little information on the subject of natural pearls in Spanish on the web, but in English this is not the case (some very good sites on the subject are: Kari pearls and Love to Know 1911), but you can never have enough information, so here we will try to answer all questions or -at the least– will help you to find new questions (not a bad thing per se).

So let us start this fascinating topic of natural pearls. First, we’ll start with a bit of history, we then will examine certain features of pearls and finally talk about how the natural pearls are formed and we do hope we can help to do away with the incredibly popular myth of “pearls are formed with a grain of sand”… I’ll try my best.

History of the discovery of the Pearl

Who discovered the first pearls? When did people begin to show an appreciation for pearls? What are we having for Lunch today? These are probably the questions that many have pondered upon for ages and for which we do not have a fulfilling answer, but let us “travel back in time” to about 10 thousand years ago (and even before that), when human groups in coastal areas or even in areas with rivers began to swim in search of food (notice the importance of question #3?) and under the philosophy of “everything that can be eaten must be eaten” they began to collect pearl oysters and mussels for lunch. Occasionally, they would find a Pearl inside and this could either become a happy moment or a time of huge annoyance… since one hard bite on a pearl can easily cause a dental crack. But let us suppose they did happen to find a “little pearl”: perfect, beautiful like the Moon, or as green as the sea, or able to display rainbow-like flashes or they were able of seeing their face reflected on it… to our ancestors this was Pure Magic. Let’s say that it could have been a good start for the discovery of the Aesthetics.

Now, how did that appreciation and admiration for these small nacreous orbs became an item used as a gem or for personal adornment? Most likely human beings were already using varied “ornaments”: shells, wood, leather, teeth, bones, stones… (it is stated that the oldest pieces of jewelry found are about 100 thousand years old and were made using snail shells, for more information click here) but the Pearl would become the highlight among any other decorative items because it was much more beautiful and would arrive in an “almost ready” state for its use: while almost all other items (corals, gemstones, ivory, etc.) would require many work-hours in order to end up used in an ornament. But the Pearl was a truly a gift of Nature… and had a value-added feature that today is not easily appreciated: its hardness (this topic will be discussed in a future blog delivery).

Adornments similar to those used by our Human Ancestors

Once the Pearl became more and more popular in the taste of our ancestors it also became a “sacred” or “holy” gem, thus many legends and stories about pearls exist and there is not a sacred book that does not include our beloved Gem within its pages, and this also generated many theories about its formation: that its origin it was purely divine, that when angels shed tears these would fall into the sea and became pearls, or that when lightning struck the surface of the ocean pearls would be formed and would fall into the oyster’s gaping mouths (the lightning being produced by the Greek god Zeus), etc., and these ideas eventually evolved up to the this point in civilization  until we  finally arrived to the widely accepted idea that “a grain of sand enters the oyster’s body and irritates the animal unless it coats it up with nacre and thus…becomes Pearl”. How did we ever get this idea? Let us look into this account more closely.

 

The theory of the Grain of Sand

What is interesting about this idea is that most people consider it as a very logical and sound theory, and so it must be true. Let us analyze this “theory”, step by step:

1. Pearl oysters live in the sea, in shallow coastal areas and are found attached on hard substrate (rocks, reefs, shells of mollusks, etc.), and in these areas there is enough sand for the purpose of “stuffing” the pearl oysters.

2. It is logical to imagine that in a day with appropriate environmental conditions (waves, wind, strong currents) some sand will become suspended in the water and could travel –using sea currents- until some grains of sand find their way into an open oyster.

3. At this point, the oyster is starting to feel irritation from the roughness from the grain of sand and -as a consequence- the oyster will have to defend itself from this “painful foreign body” by secreting a smooth and delicate substance –nacre- around the grain of sand in order to form a soft and delicate pearl… easy, isn’t it?

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A "Panamic Black Lipped Pearl Oyster" (Pinctada mazatlanica)

But I am sorry to say that this is not the case and I’ll be emphatic and will just say NO NO and NO!!!! That is simply not true nor accurate. And in fact, we have reliable and accurate scientific information about what actually happens to an Oyster in order for it to produce a Natural Pearl… but for some unknown reason –could it have been a marketing scam? –”the grain of sand theory” is the one that won and it ended up established in the collective conscience of humanity. How can we prove this theory as incorrect?  We have two tools: the first would be using logic and the second one by means of experimentation. Let’s do this step by step.

 

Using logic

Natural pearls were almost always scarce. Most sources mention obtaining only ONE (1) natural pearl from every 10 thousand slaughtered oysters. One Pearl for every 10 thousand little animals…. But how much sand do we have available at sea? Why so many grains of sand reaching so very few pearl oysters? How come we can’t find many more pearls?

In our experience -from what we have seen by working for over 20 years here in Bacochibampo Bay-  is that water conditions can be severely affected by a change in tides, a swell or due to tropical storms, or even due to strong Northwest winds, and the change can be so severe that sea-water conditions can change from its normal blue-green color to a “caffé latté” (brown) color due to the immense amount of suspended -containing large quantities of sand and mud- sediments. At times like these, the amount of pearls which should be formed definitively has to be huge, simply because of the potential “sand-grains” in the waters. Now, this kind of phenomenon is not uncommon: it happens very often in our location, especially during winter months. That means that any Pearl Oyster in the Bay might receive from just several thousand to millions of grains of sand per week; and keep in mind that if an Oyster can live about between 6 to 16 potential years…this rises to the amount to that of billions of grains of sand = billions of pearls PER OYSTER.

Thus each pearl oyster should be the equivalent of a treasure chest: it is simply a question of diving for one Pearl Oyster in order to obtain sufficient pearls for several necklaces, bracelets, earrings and gift-sets for the whole family and –why not?- even for the pesky neighbors!!! …but, again, this is not the case: only one of every 10 thousand oysters produces a quality Pearl.

If the cause is not sand… then, what causes a natural pearl to form? I will talk about this in my next blog delivery…