Quote:
Originally Posted by Valeria101
Trying some pearl S.F. here: any chance old sources of supply might restart? Any chance natural pearls could be produced by rearing shells but not tempering with the pearls |
I have had some thoughts/fantasies along those lines. The Persian Gulf's pinctada beds are the most plentiful in the world and they have been fallow for over 50 years. I have often thought that they would provide rich pickings if they were harvested now.
I was wondering if a high tech MRI or xray could see any pearls through the shell. If so, that would be a way to allow non-pearl bearing pinctadas to be replaced back into their beds. Then if the cultured pearl techies were to remove the pearl, it could even have a tissue nucleus put in and gently replaced back into the gulf. Also, shells with tiny seed pearls could be also be marked and replaced.
Assuming the warships have not ruined the waters, the pinctada beds, which are shallow enough for human divers without equipment, could just be tended, rather than putting the pinctadas in baskets and suspended. Organic pearl cultivation? Free range oysters? It sounds do-able to me.