A Sunshine Coast girl has enjoyed a pearler of a day at Point Cartwright, finding an unexpected ocean treasure in a one-in-10,000 surprise.
Eleven-year-old Izzy Mason, of Brightwater, was shell hunting while walking with mum Lisa Rielly and their dachshund dog late one afternoon when a particular oyster shell caught her eye on the sand below the landmark lighthouse.
“I like picking up and looking at different shells with my mum and this one just stood out,” Izzy recalled.
Much to her delight, when she opened the shell, there was a pearl inside.
“We believe it is a saltwater pearl after watching a few online videos,” Izzy said.
Izzy and her mum are unsure what the pearl is worth, but are thinking about having it made into jewellery.
Pearls are considered natural treasures and have been prized for thousands of years.
The pearl formation starts when a particle, or irritant, gets inside a mollusc and is trapped.
That particle becomes the nucleus of the pearl.
In response, as a defence mechanism, the mollusc starts coating the particle with nacre (a crystal form of calcium carbonate) that is strong and iridescent.
Over time, thousands of layers of nacre are deposited, giving the pearl its lustre (or glow).
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Freshwater pearls can take between one and six years to form, while the process is much longer in saltwater – five to 20 years – making those pearls more valuable.
Experts say the odds of finding a pearl in an oyster is one in 10,000.
Izzy, who is not much of a seafood lover and definitely not an oyster fan, said she feels “extremely lucky” to have found one at the beach.
“She was stoked,” Lisa said of the discovery, which also came as a shock.
“(You) couldn’t wipe the smile from her face.
“She is still delighted by it.
“I asked her how she knew exactly where to find a pearl in a shell, as it was buried in the membrane.
“Izzy explained that she had seen a video about it before.
“It was quite surreal, actually, considering that Izzy didn’t really want to go for a walk on that day (I go there a lot!), but she did to keep me company and ended up finding treasure.”
Izzy now has big plans for the very special organic gem.
“I would love to have it made into a pendant because the pearl is actually my favourite colour,” she said.
“It’s very tiny so we are keeping it safe.”
The “buried treasure” has cemented Pt Cartwright in the family’s hearts.
“We spend a lot of time at La Balsa and Point Cartwright as a family and have done since our kids were babies,” Lisa said.
“It’s an absolutely magical place.
“The pearl is invaluable to Izzy.
“The memory attached to finding it, you can’t put a dollar value on that.”
