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Shell Game1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Itinerary | Home
And I mean riches – literally. Shells have been currency, talisman and treasure over the ages: The golden cowrie from the Fiji and Solomon Islands is a symbol of power and rank for chieftains, and cowries have also been used in art, jewellery and as religious objects. The Maldives’ ancient money cowrie went on to become the most widely circulated currency in history. Fresh from shelling in the Gulf, we admire some fine specimens at the Bailey-Matthews Shell Museum – probably the only museum in the world where it’s acceptable to show up a little drippy – and later stop at She Sells Sea Shells (the best name ever for a shell shop). While admiring Junonias under glass, my friend muses, “Why don’t people just buy them so they can get their picture in the paper?” The cashier quips, “Honey, I want to be famous too. Don’t you think I would have thought of that?” Fact is, you can also just buy a Junonia on eBay. To a newbie conchologist such as myself, this makes little sense. What motivates people to forage for shells? “Many feel a desire to get in touch with nature,” says Ronda Green, proprietor of Araucaria Ecotours in Australia, explaining that do-no-harm pursuits in the outdoors can be their own reward. “I think the environment movement that started a few decades ago has raised public awareness of the fragility of ecosystems.” And, as Dr. Jerry Harasewych, curator of Marine Mollusca at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of Natural History, assures me, “Shell collecting, as practised by the vast majority of people, is an ecologically harmless hobby.” Besides, shells have protection: Sanibel’s shelling ordinance, for example, makes it illegal to take shells with live creatures in them from the beach. The next day, Miriam and I head to the 120-year-old Sanibel Lighthouse. “Is the shelling any better on this side of the island?” I call to a man wearing a Harley-Davidson tank top and a Spider-Man baseball cap, carrying a yellow sand bucket. “I don’t know about better,” he replies. “No Junonias.” Which is why private shelling excursions on Captiva Island with local shell authority Captain Mike Fuery are so popular. |
