Tips from the experts 



You've been to the beach. Six bags of sou- 

 venirs and 14 buckets of shells give it away. 



You know what to do with the souvenirs, 

 but what about the shells? 



This year, take a few extra steps to pre- 

 serve your hand-picked treasures. Well- 

 cleaned shells can be used for art, jewelry, 

 decoration and display. 



Carolyn Smith and Walt Wenzel of the 

 N.C. Shell Club offer the following tips for 

 making the most of your finds. 



Gathering shells 



• When you pick up a shell, record when, 

 where and how you found it. Keep the piece 

 of paper with the shell. 



• Keep live moUusks in cold seawater 

 until you get home if you want them to stay 

 alive. 



• If you plan to freeze the mollusks, put 

 them on ice. 



i 



Cleaning them out 



• If you want to eat the mollusk, boil for 2 

 to 5 minutes, then work the body out of the 

 shell with a needle or ice pick. 



• Or freeze the shell. When the mollusk is 

 frozen, take it out of the ice, let it thaw, then 

 pull out the body. The mollusk can be 

 cooked and eaten. 



• If you don't want to eat the mollusk, 

 soak it in regular drugstore alcohol. Soaking 

 time varies. Some shells may take 24 hours, 

 Smith says. Then remove the mollusk. 



• If the mollusk is a gastropod, Uke a 

 moon snail or whelk, save the thin "trap- 

 door" at the shell's opening and put it back. 

 This shows the animal was taken alive and 

 makes the shell more valuable. 



• Leave the shell as is after this step if you 

 want it to remain natural-looking. 



Cleaning them up 



• First try cleaning your shell with soapy 

 water and a brush. 



• Or soak it in bleach. Dilute the bleach 

 with water, or use it full-strength if the shell 

 is badly encrusted. Watch the shell as it 

 soaks. It could take a few minutes or several 

 hours to clean. Alternately soak and brush 

 the shell if needed. Bleach should not harm 

 the color or luster of the shell and helps 

 remove algae, barnacles and corals. 



• Pick the remaining particles off the 

 shell with a small tool such as a dentist's pick. 



• Rinse the shell. 



• Dry it on a paper towel. 



Preserving them 



• Rub mineral oil or baby oil on the shell 

 after it dries. This protects it from dust and 

 dirt and helps bring out the color. Smith 

 often rinses her shells, and puts new oil on 

 them every year. 



• Catalog the shell. Keep accurate rec- 

 ords about it. 



• Display and enjoy. 



code of ethics shell collectors share. 



Don't squander shells. Take only what you 

 need — maybe one to clean and one to show the 

 original state. Leave egg cases and other young 

 mollusks. And if you turn a rock, put it back. 

 Leave the environment as you found it. 



"This is what I've come to," Smith says. "To 

 appreciate the animal that makes the shell. The 

 challenge now is learning more about the shell 



and being more conservative about my col- 

 lecting. 

 "You never learn it all." 



Sea Grant has a booklet for more informa- 

 tion on collecting native shells. To order Sea 

 Shells Common to North Carolina, write Sea 

 Grant, Box 8605, N.C. State University, 

 Raleigh, N.C. 27695-8605. The cost is 75 cents. 



