mussel pearls

[scallop007]

hi pearl people; The more i cruise this site the more i'm learning ,lol i was on the beach the other day and picked up 48 pearls from mussels they are way nicer looking than scallop pearls(my experience)they are purple,blue, pink,white and a silver one, mixed with them are lighter colors (ex baby blue) i have a couple questions: 1 how small is too small ?.2) does retreving the pearls from mussels that have been cooked effect the finish or the hardness of them? i will try to post a picture of them, thanks ,, 007

[Valeria101]

... picked up 48 pearls from mussels they are way nicer looking than scallop pearls...



Wow! That's allot of pearls!




how small is too small ?



For what? Pearls down to 1mm diameter are drilled and used in various ways (search for 'seed pearl'). Size matters, but there's hardly 'too small' to use in jewelry somehow.

At 5mm natural pearls start to stand on their own. 10mm is large for most types. very general and imprecise said w/o knowing what I those pearls are - some kinds are common large if the shell they come from is large too (say, melo pearls).





does retrieving the pearls from mussels that have been cooked effect the finish or the hardness of them?

Yes... and not in a good way. (as far as I know from the grapevine - never occurred to me to try pearl scalding! One more bit of controlled pearl destruction to try :o ).


My 2c.




I will try to post a picture of them

Please do :) Whatever size, color or quality, natural pearls are at the very least interesting. Fingers crossed for them pictures!

[scallop007]

thanks Valeria: 1 mm thats small to me. 48 pearls is not alot, living where i do.never went looking before. in one tide its possible to get a hundred, get in the right spot. the dead shells on the beach shows signs of pearl making. now i have to refine my hunting to old beds.the older harder looking shells have the best pearls. their are millions of mussels here. going to watch the moon for the high tides so the big mussels will show when the tide leave them (pencil eracer) ones now is what i'm looking for. i guess cooking them could be out, lol. our tides are 30 feet or more in places in the bay of fundy the tide runs out along ways from shore. makes it good for pearling ,,,, thanks 007
ps. got those 48 in about an hour and a half.

[Valeria101]

Man! That's 'peal planet' you are writing from.

Pictures, please :o

One with a shell is good too. Can't believe it! :cool:

[pattye]

Can't even imagine the JOY at being able to pick them up on the beach!!! In any size!! Please post photos!!

Pattye

[Caitlin]

Hi
I apppreciate your posting here. You are onto something. You appear to be in an area that is producing a lot of NATURAL mussel pearls. These are special no matter how small and the large ones will command some cash. Let me put in my vote for your pictures. It would be a great service to this forum if you also took some pictures on site, where these guys grow. There really is not much pearling in rivers for natural pearls anymore. In many areas, the mussel population is small and weak. It is a sign of the health of the bear river- is that where you got them? that they are growing and producing pearls.

We had a teenager last year who stepped on a mussel and picked it up and it had a 7mm purple pearl in it- which he promptly gave to his girl of the moment. sigh. Anyway the shell had a purple iridescent lining. The mussels of North America produce a wide variety of natural colors and I love to hear stories such as yours.

Don't cook them first, if you want to retain the quality of the pearls!

[jshepherd]

I get the feeling we do not all have the same definition of 'pearl' here. What am I missing here? What are you really picking up? Shell?

[perlas]

Unless there is a rampant disease among the mussels, i can't imagine so much pearls in one hunt. What is the specie of the mussel?

[scallop007]

I get the feeling we do not all have the same definition of 'pearl' here. What am I missing here? What are you really picking up? Shell?
we may not sir: but the shells are a cool purple and some are blue on the inside but the pearls i'm talking about are in them, alot are stuck to the shells had one the other day that had maybe 15 molded right in the shell they are small.

[scallop007]

Hi
I apppreciate your posting here. You are onto something. You appear to be in an area that is producing a lot of NATURAL mussel pearls. These are special no matter how small and the large ones will command some cash. Let me put in my vote for your pictures. It would be a great service to this forum if you also took some pictures on site, where these guys grow. There really is not much pearling in rivers for natural pearls anymore. In many areas, the mussel population is small and weak. It is a sign of the health of the bear river- is that where you got them? that they are growing and producing pearls.

We had a teenager last year who stepped on a mussel and picked it up and it had a 7mm purple pearl in it- which he promptly gave to his girl of the moment. sigh. Anyway the shell had a purple iridescent lining. The mussels of North America produce a wide variety of natural colors and I love to hear stories such as yours.

Don't cook them first, if you want to retain the quality of the pearls!
thanks Caitlin: mussels you cannot harvest from the beach up here they claim to have psp (shellfish poisoning) but there no law about opening them up right there. over the years i seen some huge ones 8-10 mm bright purple and said "thats cool " and threw them out with the shells the mussels were great to eat,,, the beds of mussels here are acres of them most are clean of pearls but in the ponds left by the tide seems to have the most in them ,007 ps i'll try to get you a picture of the beach and show a mussel opened with the pearls still in them.

[scallop007]

Unless there is a rampant disease among the mussels, i can't imagine so much pearls in one hunt. What is the specie of the mussel?
ok ,lol this science thing : perlas; the name of those mussels are"Mytilus Edulis" whatever that means,lol but there may be other kinds as well some have red shells on the outside, orange meat inside,some are blue and have white meat .thats all we used to go by, some people like the red mussels better for eating ,the blue or black ones are typical aquacultured type. all have pearls .007 Oh ,,, pearls started from sand no doubt

[scallop007]

To Pattye and Valeria:::: I will get your pictures on for you after this snowstorms over, brrrrrrrrr ,lol weather too bad for on the beach but spring's coming thank heaven's ,, see ya, 007

[Caitlin]

Hi All
Check this (http://www.bearriver.ca/photogallery.htm) site out. Pictures of Bear River Nova Scotia. Is this where you live 007, or near there?

This does not look like an area that has been commercially exploited for freshweater pearls, so my imagination taks me to a time when rivers in America yeilded up such treasures, lying on the banks and eddies, even- though I would guess that much exposure to the elements would make the shells and pearls chalky.

I saw a picture somewhere, where there was a pile of empty mussels shells of all brilliant colors. They had been eaten by a racoon, so any pearls would have been left with the shell.

Actually from your description, it looks like there was an intrusive threat that caused so many mussels to exhibit so many pearl types- so many struck to the shell etc.

Even if it takes some concentration and energy, some more facts about your home area and mussel hunting etc in your area, family, whatever, become important snippets of history- windows into time- but we do need pix. Maybe you have a firend with a camera?

I t may be cold out, but if you have any pearls from your ventures, give us a post with pix, will ya? We do look forward to some Spring pictures though....

Thanks

[scallop007]

Hi All
Check this (http://www.bearriver.ca/photogallery.htm) site out. Pictures of Bear River Nova Scotia. Is this where you live 007, or near there?

This does not look like an area that has been commercially exploited for freshweater pearls, so my imagination taks me to a time when rivers in America yeilded up such treasures, lying on the banks and eddies, even- though I would guess that much exposure to the elements would make the shells and pearls chalky.

I saw a picture somewhere, where there was a pile of empty mussels shells of all brilliant colors. They had been eaten by a racoon, so any pearls would have been left with the shell.

Actually from your description, it looks like there was an intrusive threat that caused so many mussels to exhibit so many pearl types- so many struck to the shell etc.

Even if it takes some concentration and energy, some more facts about your home area and mussel hunting etc in your area, family, whatever, become important snippets of history- windows into time- but we do need pix. Maybe you have a firend with a camera?

I t may be cold out, but if you have any pearls from your ventures, give us a post with pix, will ya? We do look forward to some Spring pictures though....

Thanks yep right place ,,Caitlin you've been doing your home work too i see,lol, bear with me i'll get you some nice pictures,007

[scallop007]

yep right place ,,Caitlin you've been doing your home work too i see,lol, bear with me i'll get you some nice pictures,007,,, oh ps salt water where the fresh water is up the river there is no sign of life just striped bass huge ones 15-65 lbs try one of those on a rod and reel ,lol thanks

[pierrettedE]

well well, howdy ho neighbour! I live in Yarmouth county, NS. For those of you doubting... these are your regular Atantic blue mussels and they do yield quite a few 'pearls'.

"I get the feeling we do not all have the same definition of 'pearl' here. What am I missing here? What are you really picking up? Shell?"

Concretions. Usually, very small, very dark, purple-black seed-shaped concretions. The are usually very flat in colour and almost chalky (Do they ever become annoying after 2-3 in a steam).

So why and how so many? I'm not sure either.. The locals seem to think they start with silty-sand particles though this should not be the case, correct?. Sometimes there are more and in some areas, of course. Some people around here (South-West Nova Scotia, Canada) have small collections of these. Many fine ones have undoubtedly been trashed over the years. They are generally looked at as a bother (and a pain in the teeth).

There are a very few mussel farmers in the area and I've been meaning to go about and ask them about finding pearls... and if they've noticed any sort of trend... in years, temperature changes, pollution etc...

There are also many many full circulation, nice salt water tank houses here... and the fishery is slowing ... makes me wonder about possibilities...

[scallop007]

hey SW Nova,, i'm right on the tricounty line ,lol yep lots of pearls in the mussels and they nodoubt have a finish like you explained because they have been cooked ,i've seen some thats been cooked ,,no good ,the ones coming from live mussels are way shiner and harder and have more luster i'm going to the islands and have a look around, found 48 the other day in the basin ,just little fellows ,lol catch ya later,, 007

[Ashley]

Hi All,

Sounds like you're having a great time picking up all those pearls!! Have you formed any plans as to what you're going to do with them?
By the way, I found some great photographs online of the blue mussel, as well as some pearl shots, so everyone can have a better idea of what they look like... Enjoy!
http://www.arkive.org/species/ARK/invertebrates_marine/Mytilus_edulis/ARK008173.html?size=medium

[pierrettedE]

hi Ashley. Thanks. I have lots of scallop pearls but no mussel pearls (Yes, I have thrown a couple away... they were just so so tiny and dark and ugly and ... painful...maybe i was angry with them:eek: ). That's exactly what they look like.

Keeping in mind that most of the shells -common and dug for food- are around 2-2.5 inches from top to bottom and the 'pearls' shown are bigger and lighter than the ones I've seen... They're still rather small.

I'm not sure how much damage the steaming does. That's a question ? They cook really fast. Put in a bain marie -just steam- but usually just in a small bottom of rapid boiling water. As soon as the shells open (1-2min) they're done and removed from the heat.

So, at -26 celcius I want to go to the shore line and dig me some mussels! I'm familiar with scallop007 (double 0 7, gotcha ha) area but have never dug for clams or mussels there. Maybe i should...

[Slraep]

Hello fellow martimers PierretteD and Scallop007!

I live in PEI half of the year near St. Peters Lake. Actually, Lakeside Beach. Been to Nova Scotia many times--love it. The Cabot Trail should be on everybody's vacation trajectory.

There are so many common blue mussel beds in PEI, too. I recently sent Caitlin some pics. Maybe she can trim them and post here(please).

I'll be looking out for the pearls. The mussels will have had to be expired already, for me to pick through them. I just can't bring myself to open any live ones. Healthy mussel beds are a thing of great beauty and the husband and myself usually do some very fancy footwork in order not to step on any of the inhabitants. A bunch of baby mussels stuck to a rock at low tide, sunning themselves, is one of the cutest things you will ever see...


Slraep

[pierrettedE]

Slraep, "ahhhhh shoot!" :o I can't believe you're a woman! I've missed that! After all the posts that i've read from you... you'de think i would have figured that one out by now.

i agree whole-heartedly about the live mussels... I would obviously NOT make a great pearl farmer... hmmm that's pretty much being a hypocrit is it not? gee, maybe i should ... gosh, I'm :eek: struggling with my own conscience here...

[pierrettedE]

Just in case you are really really interested in our Atlantic mussels.

http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pe-pe/es-se/mussel-moule/mussel-moule-e.html

My brother is a fisherman with some quahog licenses... the reason behind my interest in concretions found in Atlantic Canadian bi-valves!!

[scallop007]

hahaha,,, hey do you guys realize what dfo would say if we were down on the beach wandering around like lost sheep? we might end up needing something to keep us from having to get checked, like the clammer's, they have to keep a sharp eye on the beaches now..

[Caitlin]

Please don't do anything illegal! If your mussels are protected, then just take photos.

I and a couple of others here, are mussel nuts and keep an eye on the condition of mussels in the lower 48 where many are endangered. There are various projects going on to raise mussels in tanks to help maintain and/or restore their numbers. You folks up north seem to have a much more pristine area. We'd love anything you can tell us or show us from local folks where ever mussels grow.
This picture from Slraep: Some closeup follow.

[Caitlin]

Here is a close up:

[Caitlin]

another close up. These are absolutely huge beds with thousands of mussels all snuggled up and singing together.

[scallop007]

thanks kaitlin: for the pictures from slrap. clear as a bell the links everyones putting in is great. oh,,, ps i wonder if the "salt slurry" would work to clean up mussel and scallop pearls too, or much grit?
thank you . 007

[scallop007]

hey gang,, i measured those mussel pearls and the smallest is 1.59 mm or 1/16" up to about 3.97 or 5/32. at 1mm i doubt i'd pick them out ,i thought the biggest one's are too small,,lost a few on the floor just trying to measure them, and let way more fall out when i opened them up on the beach from the water inside the shell,, 1mm too small to bother with, any that small would get tossed, unless someone wanted them for some reason,,, thanks 007

[scallop007]

hey pearl people again,, pearl count is up to a little over 200 one real nice little dark blue one ,more purple,, just want to add that ,, thanks ,,,,,,, hey you guys may half to send me something to put some in i'd send ya some back,,, see ya 007

[pierrettedE]

hi Scallop007,

How about some pictures?? :p Where on earth are you going to get so many? We have whole lot of mussel beds but the pearls are quite rare. Rare, as in we'd find one or two every summer in cooked shells.

Check out the beach areas I've got to wander along! Beautiful! Build out little cedar home here in 99 after spending years in the city of Ottawa. Much calmer here :cool:

[scallop007]

hey nice picture:; the only place so far is down behind cornwallis,in the basin,, dfo was there the other day,,i showed them what we got,they showed me the rules, i have a couple of hurdle's to clear before i can really get down to busness, i'm guessing they think i'm crazy,lol its all closed area,,we got about 300 in 3 tides. they do want to help as best they can.was in gilbert's cove last night,, huge mussels 4-5" and clean(no pearls) and full of meat they were making me hungry,lol .we are going to work our way down st mary's bay,, towards you,(Yarmouth) and see what goes down, might stop in ,lol get the tea pot on ,, 007,, photo's are coming,,

[pierrettedE]

hi, If you stop by bring some with you. I have a mean Canon digital with a very good Tripod. We could get decent shots of some of those little blue mussel concretions!!!

P

[pierrettedE]

as an aside. question put to, maybe J Norris? The tides in the area where Scallop007 (maybe you should say your name rather than calling you Scallop all the time) visits are some of the highest in the world. Water rushes rather fast and I'm sure there are other factors to consider too. Lots of clay, right? very closed in basin that would obviously get warmer than other areas...

What would produce such a large amount of pearls in mussels?

[Valeria101]

What would produce such a large amount of pearls in mussels?

I don't know, but in the light-hearted way of this forum would dare an armchair hypothesis:

Something has to get into the pearl, so there must be some conditions that make this happen allot more and increase the chance of pearl forming TREMENDOUSLY. Parasites do that. Perhaps other diseases too. But how about the surf? Given the right combination of shore configuration, sea bed composition and tide regime, it isn't hard to imagine lots and lots of rough sand rushed in by fast incoming tide or surf. The right conditions might be rare, but then, so are rich pearl beds close to the shore. Surf conditions feature in descriptions of pipi and mabe gai natural beds (at least the one about pipi pearls could be tested here against direct experience!). It must help that shells exposed to surf produce thicker nacre to begin with to insure mechanical resistance.

[scallop007]

hi guys :: you can call me Eric if you like,,,one thing left to question about the reason for all the pearls,, they may be caused by the ice damage there is places on the points of land where the ice has ripped them up and moved them around, there are alot with cracked shells,,,
who knows ,lol so are they akoya?,, where they grow, in saltwater? i guess they are not, so what would they be called? saltwater mussels=??,lol thanks,,

[Valeria101]

... so what would they be called? saltwater mussels=?

They must have a scientific name already. And a popular one as seafood. Why not just use that one? It comes down to what you'd call them before adding lemon ;)

'Akoya' is the Japanese popular name of a certain species of bivalve: pinctada fucata. There is a thread about just this HERE (http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140&highlight=akoya+means).

Can't wait to see these mysterious pearls!

[pierrettedE]

hi,

Mytilus edulis, ie blue mussel.

http://www.glf.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/pe-pe/es-se/mussel-moule/mussel-moule-e.html

[scallop007]

hi there pierrette and valeria,lol they are real good dipped in butter then vinigar,lol smell them cooking,,hahahaha its open area where you live pierrette,fill your boots. i've borrowed a dig camera, now if i can take some pictures,then know how to post them(i'll ask that later) we will all see whats up. pierrette: have you ever heard of (you will laugh at this one) COD EAR pearls,lol .i met a guy i used to fish with, we got talking about this pearl thing and he claims there are pearls in a cod fishes ear, shaped like a spoon i guess you cut them just behind the eyes,(crossways) split them open, pick them out, they are easy to miss. he claims they are like ivory colored and snow white ones in haddock, when casey's are cutting again i'm taking him down so he can show me some (he claims they are so hard one jeweler broke 7 diamond drills trying to make earrings) ever heard of that? or was he yanking my chain,lol be nice to get a pic of those,,,, oh,btw yes to blue mussels,"dfo"s only info,,but what would the pearls be called, they dont fall in line with these on here,, Eric

[pierrettedE]

hi Eric,

he's talking about an ear stone..

An ear stone (or calcareous concretion) in the inner ear of a bony fish. Each year, a new layer is added, which can be used to measure age.

[scallop007]

well i guess he was'nt yanking my chain,lol. i'm gonna take him to the plant when their cutting fish some day and get him to get me a few. i got a digital camera just to find out that i can not hook it up(no usb connector), the fun never stops,lol going to get them off and on here somehow.went yesterday got about 40 or 50 or so in about a half a plastic grocery bag(super store bag) man it was cold on the beach brrrrrrrr,lol takes 5 min to get them and 2 hrs to get the pearls out,
lots of purple one's. the same color as my finger's yesterday,hahaha
have a good one,,, pearler's,,,,, 007

[scallop007]

hi everyone ,,here's a few pic's hope they look ok,, i'll get a few bed pictures on the next full tides,, some of my pictures have to be retaken ,,they're too large for loading on here(close ups)

[Caitlin]

Hi Eric

Thanks for your contributions.

If I am following this correctly, the mussels are mylitus edulis the common sea mussel. I googled it and did not get much.

This (http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Mussel)is a good description

They are common they are good to eat and there is little mention of their pearls, which is not surprizing as there isn't much mention of quahog pearls either, (though that is improving)



conchology inc (http://www.conchology.be/fr/availableshells/searchresultsgallery.php?ml_class=PEARLS)has some for sale and a picture about halfway down the page. (and some fascinating unual pearls above it too-take a look-Lots of Atrina vexillum pearls on this page. Neverheard of them--Perlas and othrs from the Philippines I hope you will take a look at them. Have you ever seen them in person?

You may have the biggest collection of these in the world.:cool:. I think it wold be very interesting if you could keep following this up. Perhaps make a phone call or email to the local fish and game department? Your theory of how the pearls happens is interesting, but please don't stop there.


I am looking forward to seeing the beds they grow in, though you should get a friend to take some pictures!


If it was an unusual event that caused this abundance of pearls in common sea mussel pearls, then you must take advantage of it and I am so glad you are.


I would like to see a couple in person. Also have you done any experiments like cutting one in half to see what it is like in the middle?


BTW you can reduce the big pictures right on your computer. Windows xp has a photo editor that is the default program for looking at pictures. It has a resize function. If you don't have xp, Paint does it too.

[scallop007]

lets have a look at these, hope they come out,, hey thanks Caitlin,, the paint program works good ,lol thanks again ,,007

[pierrettedE]

Hi Eric,

I second Catlin about seeing these ... and since I'm less than 2 hours away... :D

Yes, the mussels he is speaking of should be mytilus edulis. There is an abondance of these. I have never seen or heard on them getting as light as those I see in the picture. Many look like Atlantic Scallop pearls, though I know you [Eric] know the difference.

We have a few species of freshwater mussels here too... I guess that's unrelated. It just crossed my mind how much fresh water actually gets into the Minas Basin.

Anyway. These mussels are prone to produce pearls. Though somewhat rare, considering the amount of mussels there are, they are much more common than in other types of our native bivalves, like scallops or quahogs and oysters. Their location and environmental conditions do influence pearl production. I think I've read that a parasite living in seagull fæces might contribute to this.

As for the location of Eric's mussels.. ? ... there are veerrryyy long mud flats (very good clay for pottery :) , some of the highest tides in the world, warmer waters than in the open Atlantic. Am I correct?

For questions about recent surveys in that area, you could try the Bedford Institute of Oceanography.

[Caitlin]

Eric
I can't see the purple pearl in there. darn. I am an old lady and everything looks blurry anyway, even without your photos adding to it! lol :D. Can you invite Pierrette to bring a camera for a field trip to the beds?

This is really interesting. I am wondering if some of them can be drilled or if they are all gooshy inside like quahog pearls? Since they are mussels, I would hope the pearls are nacreous concretions through and through.

Find a friend with a dremel (they can have very tiny drill bits or whatever they are called) and you will have a pearl ready to thread.

[scallop007]

ah ,lol caitlin:: you got better vision than me no doubt he,he, ive done alot of squinting at sea, in the sun,, most of them are so small ya have to lick your finger to pick them up,lol they seem to be quite hard,some stuck to the shells just will not come off. hey check this pic out, its not very clear ,, these are scallop pearls from off of nova scotia we never save ,lol,, oh ps was reading about the diffrent glues,,,this is what can happen when you use crazy glue,, they are scallop pearls mounted in pewter the glue made it flat finished and i used way too much not realized untill the glue dried ,lol oh well,, dollar stores full of findings,, just have to melt out the plastic jewels ,lol

[scallop007]

fuzzy but here it is ,,

[scallop007]

hi Caitlin: just checked out that site ,, wooo $20 for a 1.8 mm mussel pearl? and i've got a handfull of them,lol and the price of scallop pearls is even higher. if i got a buck a peice i would be happy,,thanks for the link,007

[pattye]

Eric & Pierette

Just wanted to say that I am enjoying this thread so very much, and following your enthusiastic pearling adventures on the beach!! Nova Scotia is beautiful and amazing place! Thanks for sharing it!!

pattye

[pierrettedE]

Hi Pattye :) and spring is coming... !

Eric, you might be taking the pictures too close. ? Try a few with the camera over 3 feet away. (just to try) Either that or find on the camera a setting called "macro" or MF and press it, click it, turn the nob to point at it,... you get the idea. If it's a nice -ish- day you can also try on a flat rock (grey is a good background) so that you don't need a flash.

just ideas ... not trying to be rude! .... i'm Canadian, I have to appologize for critical remarks you know!

Pierrette

[scallop007]

hahahaha not rude at all. remember i'm a fisherman,lol i need all the help i can get. yes i'll try that .at least its a digital so i can retake. i'm getting good at that,lol your right about the dark background,,hey i took some of those photos on a brown cotton work glove, crude but effective,hehe ok thanks ,,the quest continues,,,,007 p.s.. thanks to everyone that has helped put this thread together. hi pattye; hope it's nice on the west coast,,,,thanks for the compliment,,

[Valeria101]

The blurry picture may be so because the camera was too close to the pearls.

Nonetheless, they are very interesting, and past the design hurdle to find a modern use for the various shapes, colors and small sizes, these pearls should turn attractive for anyone who cares about natural pearls! :cool:


Btw. about drilling them: a dentist's drill might do the trick, even a low tech version (ya know, the thinnest diamond drills used for deep ... forget it - it hurts to write!) If your dentist wouldn't bite, another might out of curiosity - I mean, what's not to like about drilling local pearls ;) Besides, given the size and nature of the pearls, I would think that half drilling (for setting on pegs rather then stringing) make more sense, and those should be easier. Just a thought...

[pierrettedE]

hi,

not sure what you plan to do with all these, apart from saving them. Fancy Jewellers in Digby's been using scallop pearls so he can no doubt drill them. Not sure about the mussel pearls. I would think if you got a good graduation in size with some of those pretty purples, you could make an interesting piece!

I use a foredom drill, diamond bits with a GRS Benchmate system [sometimes my old adapted vice works too]. It works on scallop pearls, freshwaters and Tahitians. (I find the hardest are the Tahitians especially with some nuclei... but that's another story)

[pierrettedE]

good morning. April 8 and 25 cm of snow! Easter... "argh not spring yet"

Here's my take [well, part-take. I still have to look again] on these blue mussel pearls.

I went for a visit to the Annopolis Basin yesterday. The tide was mostly high and I had my whole family. 3 girls: 7, 4 and 12mths! And my loving and obliging husband :o So you can imagine the data is rough!

I spent about an hour on the shoreline behind CFB Corwallis. At first it looked like every other shell-litered beach, then my 4-yr-old plopped a large 4in half shell in my lap with 2 distinct pearls attached to the inside. This was followed by 3 others and a few heavily blemished &/or knarled [lacking more descriptive words] old shells. Eric mentioned marks of "pearl making". Yes, that is so. There are definitly outside conditions affecting these blue mussels. Either, parasite infestation or even strange run-off affecting growth. As I mentioned above, this was an army base for many years. The structures are still there and a very large cement pipe is still running to the beach where one can see many dead shells. Nah... some sort of boring-worm i think.? Blisters ('nacreous') are formed ... the full organisms make their way through without killing the host. Not immediately anyway since many pearls are found per mussel at times...

So, this was at high-ish tide inspecting old empty mytilus edulis shells. (yes, old shells become hosts to parasites. No, the damage to the shells was not post-m. The growth lines and structure of the shells were affected.)

Mud blister worm? hmmm maybeee > [Eric, have you seen bumpy parts on the shells that are brownish and not as hard as he pearls?] <

Shell-burrowing Sponges? hmm maybee ... combination worm? ... Red worm? don't think so... Flat worm? don't think so... Pea crab? no no...

This is becoming too long a post! Ok, comments?

[scallop007]

good morning did you order up 5"of snow or what,lol up here it melted to about an inch not too bad in 6 hrs,,it must of blown 50 knots northerly yesterday. hey you were up and checked it out. i wish we could of met somewhere's could of showed you a whole handfull of those pearls over 2mm. got 17 out of one, the other night,1 almost 4mm. does'nt matter where i look (other than st mary's bay) they are in 4 out of 5,if you know which ones to look for ,,there seems to be about 4 diffrent kinds of mussels, only one kind has the pearls (or it so seems. the mussels with the white shells (st mary's bay) has very few,same with the mussels that has blue on the inside.the inside purple shelled ones have sometimes many pearls. alot i would not count just too small,, here's one,, the females(orange meats) have typically more pearls than the males(white meats) go figure,lol spawning makes the more weaker and open to infection??? who knows,, the ones i look for now are the ones that are dying(they are open alittle more than normal) they are invaded by little periwinkles.what a way to go,lol well better go feed the dragon another stick of wood have a great day pearler's ,,007

[Valeria101]

The last image (the first detailed!) got me confused - it shows a lustrous, nacreous pearl... while the others images have made me believe that your pearls are of the non-nacreous type (looking like porcelain). Am I seeing things?

[pierrettedE]

hi, I was expecting non-nacreous pearls too. The ones I've seen before were of this sort. should be of this sort... AHhh i don't know. The inside of typical mussel shells are a little less lustrous than the few I found with blisters. The shells themselves were thicker also.

I'm wondering if the mussels are not m edulis... Eric sees a few different types, maybe he's right. Still wouldn't explain the lustre though, they look quite nice. Eric did mention in earlier posts that I had probably lost some lustre by steaming the mussels, but some i've seen weren't "cooked" ans were rather dull

time for a little research here...

[scallop007]

i better hookup with you Pierrette and let you take some photos,in the mean time,i'll try to collect the diffrent kinds of shells maybe between all of us we can come up with something,lol.the hurtle i have is, there is really not any info on these,, maybe acadia or dalihousie they study marine bio.i'll keep looking,, good time for me to research and write a book,lol oh,,, there are some mussels that have bore holes, in those down behind Cornwallis. in the mouth of Bear River,, there are alot that has expired from over wintering sea birds, loons,ducks,gulls,eagles. the river is alive with mink and racoons and other predators, mortality rate is very high,, there is a bed of mussels there at low water,just to the right of the sand beach,where the point makes out behind the boat shed(where you were) thats must be 4 or 5 acres they only come out on the -0.0 low tides. example tides 28.8' high tide= -1.3' low tide. the higher they came in, the farther they go out. there is places the tide goes out for a mile,, 007

[pierrettedE]

good evening,

Try looking up "mytilus species" or nova scotia mussel species to see if you find any shells you recognize. To start, I think Mytilus Trossulus is around. Must be hybrids also.. might want to see if there are invasive species that have been noted. DFO may know this allready, Bedford Institute of O or St Andrews Lab

crying, screaming, not happy :mad: little baby! Mommy must tend!

:D

[pierrettedE]

hello. It Sunday, April 15. Cold day here but we went for a walk on the beach again. This time in a cove here in our own harbour. I started at low tide and focused on older mussels that are near a warf founded in the 1800s. No one eats mussels from there.

We looked for older mussels with specific caracteristics: Thicker looking shells that looked very weather beaten even if solidly attached. The shells had to have severe "deformities" in growth structure.

We only picked 12 live mussel shells in all. This took about 2 hours, walking around, not wanting to pull and bull our way around! All shells were larger then 2in but smaller than 3in. We found 6 pearls. The sizes are small, 4 being less than 1.5mm (mostly whitish). one, however is around 2.5 (purple-blue) and the other is 3mm (deep blue-black).

They are all non-nacreous pearls. Not at all as lustrous as the little shell blister I posted above.

Though they are known to be somewhat more common than other bivalve pearls, it was still very interesting for a Sunday afternoon.

I will post a picture if I can get a decent one. (edit is the picture)

[scallop007]

hey thats great,, you found a few, down your way,, i'm in the process of getting the 4 or 5 diffrent kinds of mussel shells on here. some mussel pearls have a shine to them in one type ,others are a flat finish.the shells that have a rectangle style shape, have the glossy finish. my son went scallop fishing last week in the bay of fundy and got around 300 scallop pearls. a couple are matched button ones about 5mm and one looks like a bullet,, some are as large as 10mm. only saved what he could get in one day,they are usually out for 4 or 5 days.
he got 1 very rare purple shell about 5" i will post a picture of that as well. have a good one,,,007

[pierrettedE]

hello everyone,

I guess this is what happens when a modern commercial fisherman meets a forum that touches on the topic of natural pearls.

I can imagine there are "few" people that are rather skeptical about the development of this thread. Especially since "someone :D " can't get any accurate photos so far.

True, I haven't seen any of these non-nacreous blue mussel and atlantic scallop pearls, but if you read up a few posts you'll see that we did find 6 tiny ones during a search through 12 carefully selected mussels. (there are millions from which to choose).

The commercial fishery in Nova Scotia is immense in its' capabilities when compared to a time when people would have been familiar with natural pearls. In addition, the pearls we find here are non-nacreous and have generally been seen as a very negative by-product of the molluscs they are selling to the food industry. Great care is taken in aquaculture projects to decrease the incidence of concretions in blue mussels, that are known to produce, when conditions dictate, tiny little pearls. The scallops, mentioned above, are not being dug one by one or even in small fishing vessels. The crues live on-board for 4-5 days and must prepare the scallops for sale. They go through thousands of pounds of shells. .The "pearls" are nuisances. Large ones are often kept for curiosity but so far have had no commercial value. [I do have quite a few of these, with a nice 3-piece set I intend to make something of one day. I would loveee to see AND PHOTOGRAPH your new ones Eric]

Then there are clam pearls/ quahog pearls. These too are found now and again but the fishery is not as developped and business being business... One company seems to have a large share of it I think.

Sometimes I'm very long-winded!

I guess my short point was that molluscs are being caught by the tons in modern commercial vessels now and pearls from our native Atlantic shellfish have been seen as a negative part of the fishery. They make shellfish undesirable and have had no commercial value. Obviously, there are some to be found.

[Caitlin]

Eric is sending me some- for the price of postage. I will photo them.

Very interesting observations and comments, Pierrette.

I wonder what the clam fishermen do with quahog pearls? Tthey are very beautiful, but fragile. Large ones are desirable and sell high though they may still need a campaign to get word out. If you haven't seen the Victorian set of 2 quahog pearls that appeared elsewhere on this site. Here it is.
http://www.pearl-guide.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121&highlight=quahog

[pierrettedE]

Hi Caitlin, that's wonderful! Go Eric!

Quahog pearls: Unfortunately, the instances of finding quahog pearls seems low. The fishery is as follow:

-There are a few aquaculture farms but they take great care NOT to produce any concretions in their product. They may certainly have encountered some but I wouldn't know.

Wild fishery.
-It would be divided into 2-3 parts. Individual clam licences that are used for harvest along the shoreline, by foot. The amounts are small, the shellfish are varied but mostlt soft-shelled clams I think.
-Then, there are the larger vessels with larger quota. These vessels fish in coastal waters to quite far out I believe. Some boats ARE equipped with their own processing "plants" but their techniques are actually guarded. - "hats off Mr. Risley, d'Entremont here! *wink" -
- This fishery is the same on a much smaller scale nearer coastal shores but has yet to prove completely viable. Pearls would be more likely to be found and saved. There are only a handful of licenses and they are not all being used. I guess this would be where my family fits in. Clams/quahogs have a very limited "shell-life" haha if not processed immediately. This is difficult as the species must be seperated and are all found dwelling in similar spots. Try doing this by-hand with 2 tons of shells in a very, very short time. Then, they would need be shelled, packed and frozen to be shipped worldwide. hmm some techniques are so close, yet so far!
** Pearls... hey, if we could find a decent market maybe we could add their recovery among the series of conveyor belt steps in processing. hmmm... thow us a bone anyone :D

[Slraep]

Slraep, "ahhhhh shoot!" :o I can't believe you're a woman! I've missed that! After all the posts that i've read from you... you'de think i would have figured that one out by now.

i agree whole-heartedly about the live mussels... I would obviously NOT make a great pearl farmer... hmmm that's pretty much being a hypocrit is it not? gee, maybe i should ... gosh, I'm :eek: struggling with my own conscience here...

Hi Pierrette,

I've been off the forum for a while and totally missed this post of yours till now. Yes, I am a woman. I use to be on another forum and all the people there thought I was a man too. One angry woman e-mailed me when she found out I was a female because I spoiled some kind of strange fantasy of hers where she imagined me looking like Pierce Brosnan. I really did not want to know any more about that...

As a pearl lover, I constantly struggle with my own conscience reguarding them too. Feels good to have the pearls, but there's always a big twinge of major guilt after pondering their origin. Sigh.

The mussel pics are from Singing Sands Beach, Basin Head, P.E.I. The sand really does sing when you walk on it. It's of a very fine type and is white. The mussel beds are at the foot of some red soil cliffs. Lots of crabs in the area too.

Slraep