the seashell

"A shell is an exoskeleton; a container, a home that offers protection and gives structure to an organism"

Shells removed from their environment become a decorative object, a reminder of a visit to the sea, a decor fad. Removing a shell from the wire basket on our dining table and really studying it reminds me of what a shell really is; an exoskeleton, protection for the organism who called it home. Whereas we are required to build or seek shelter a mollusc grows its own; when this creature dies the shell remains, either washed up on a beach or as part of the sea floor, becoming part of a platform for other organisms to grow. Either way a shell eventually becomes part of the environment that sustained it. Waves and wind eventually break down deteris until it becomes sand or stone.

I like to find an old shell and consider its story; how old it is, what considered it home, what colour was it and where it originated. It is not rare to find an ancient shell, even one that belonged to an extinct organism. The Sand dollars in my collection are from Pardoo Station in the Northwest, found well above the existing waterline, bleached white from the relentless sun, half buried in the very sand that centuries ago nourished them. A good example of ancient shells are those found in the extinct ocean beds of the Nullarbor Plain (Eyre Hwy W.A. and S.A. border), these shells a believed to be at least 9 million years old; they have become red and fossilised themselves into the surrounding earth. It is a fascinating experience to walk over the escarpment above Madura roadhouse (Eyre Hwy, West Australia) and see the remains of reef beds rising from the desert, where they have been exposed to the sun for more than 21 million years. It is a privilege to have one of these fossilised shells in my collection.

Putting together an illustrated journal of all these finds would be a way of showing that shells are more than just a decorative object to be discarded without thought; but a miracle crafted by nature.