In 2007 I made the Newspaper for this Story. Thanks to Ted Hayes for writing it. :) Snorkeler finds rare whelk pearl Date October 08, 2007 A Warren man snorkeling for whelk at the Bristol Narrows recently came back with more than he bargained for -- a pearl that could net him thousands of dollars. Charles Flowers, 44, a flooring contractor by trade, was at the Narrows with a friend in late September when he decided to put on his snorkel, mask and fins and search for whelk near the channel. Whelk, often called conch, are common in area waters but are harvested not for pearls, but for their meat. I just wanted some dinner, he said. I figured I would have a little conch salad. So when he brought his catch home later that day, the last thing he expected to spot was something that looked like it didnt belong when he extricated the animal from its shell. When he investigated, gingerly prodding the small round ball from the meat, he was amazed. Sh-bing boom bang, there it was, he said, smiling at the memory. I cut that bad boy open and there it was. I couldnt believe it. In the two weeks since the discovery, Mr. Flowers has become quite the expert on pearls, which are layers of nacre, or mother of pearl, that form around grains of sand or other contaminants, most often in oyster shells. Though gemologists say whelk and conch pearls arent technically pearls since they contain no nacre but a similar substance, they acknowledge that theyre extremely rare -- perhaps one in 10,000 whelk or conchs will produce one. His find, which is salmon-colored and a few millimeters in diameter, may be destined for a piece of custom jewelry. After spreading word of his find, he said hes received a $2,500 offer for the pearl. Should it sell, itll help him weather the winter; the flooring business has been down recently with the decline of the housing market, he said. This isnt the first oddity Mr. Flowers has found. A self-confessed water nut, he spends a lot of his time snorkeling and swimming the East Bays waterways. He once found a tiny oyster pearl, about half the size of a grain of rice, and has also found a quahog pearl, though by his own admission it is quite ugly. The whelk pearl is different, he said. A rich, warm orange, it has a fire to it, he said. And what of the animal that created it? It was delicious. By Ted Hayes
Posted on: Sun, 19 Oct 2014 13:56:36 +0000
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