ACTIVITIES-PEARL CULTURE

Some questions for you to attempt:

1. Where was the first cultured pearl farm developed and in what year?
__________________________________________________________________________

2. What are the basic requirements for spherical pearl production?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

3. What are some factors which should be considered when selecting a pearl farm site?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

4. How many divers does each lugger tow?
_______________

5. What are two methods adopted to ensure the pearl develops better qualities within the pearl oyster?
___________________________________
___________________________________

6. How old are the pearl oysters when they undergo surgical implanting/seeding?
______________

7. What lives, unharmed, within every healthy oyster?
___________________________________

8. What is the artificial nucleus/core, which is inserted into the oyster, made from and exactly where is it inserted?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

9. How many years after undergoing surgical implanting is the pearl oyster harvested for pearls?
_______________

10. What is the suggested theory for why there is such a high mortality rate amongst pearl oysters once they are moved form their natural habitat?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

11. What considerations are adopted when grading pearls?
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________
_________________________

12. How can small blemishes or scratches be ammended/removed and what is the process?
__________________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________________

13. Who is Australia's largest buyer of pearls?
____________________

Print out and colour in this picture of seeding an oyster and removing some mantle!