Our oceans are teeming with various forms of life, from large Humpback Whales to little tiny bacteria that help clean our ocean floors. One particular creature, a simple parasite, is of great importance. Most people know that pearls come from the sea and form inside a mollusk; such as an oyster. What many people may not know though is that it takes a small particle such as; the parasite, to invade the mollusk before the start of the process of pearl formation can begin.

Pearls have been used in making jewelry like pearl earrings and pearl necklaces throughout our history in many different cultures. Pearls can come in a variety of different colors, white, black, rose, and cream color. They can also come in different shapes and are named accordingly based on these shapes. The most highly valued shape though being spherical. Irregular shaped pearls are caused when the pearl grows over a rough object and are often referred to as baroque. Natural pearls can be formed in both fresh and saltwater. Fresh water pearls are often referred to as river pearls. The formation of a pearl in a freshwater mollusk is the same as the formation that occurs in the ocean mollusk.

A pearl, which is made mostly of nacre, is really just an abnormal growth that forms within the mollusk after it is exposed to a foreign substance; such as, the parasite. What happens in the oyster that causes a pearl to form? After the parasite enters the mollusk, it starts to cause a slight irritation to occur. The mollusk then starts to produce layers of a nacreous substance to coat the irritant or in this case the parasite, since it is unable to expel it out of its body. After a few years and many additional layers of nacreous coatings are formed over the irritant; a pearl is formed.

Pearls can also be cultured. The technique of cultured pearls was first developed around the 1920’s in Japan and is still done to this day. The process is done by taking part of the mother of pearl bead and placing it into the oyster, causing the oyster to form deposits of nacre around the bead and creating a pearl. A cultured pearl is usually difficult to tell from an original pearl that comes from our seas, unless you are a pearl expert.