The beautiful coloring of shells won’t last forever and especially if you put them outdoors in the sun. I have learned this the hard way!
I bought a couple of large pink conchs about 20 years ago (I no longer buy seashells) and I’ve been putting them on my sunny porch railing in summer. Lately I’ve noticed that they are looking more faded and not quite so pink and it’s because of the sun! Mollusks spend their time living down in the water, out of the sun so it stands to reason that shells are not made to withstand sunshine.
On the other hand, if your starfish or sand dollars need brightening, just set them out in the sun for a while. They are much more brittle than a sea shell and be sure to bring them in when it rains because water will make them soft.
The Pink or Queen Conch (Strombus gigas), can grow to be a foot or more in length and has a smooth pink interior. (Horse conch snails can grow to be 2 feet long!). The pretty shell is in danger of disappearing because of its collection as a decoration after the snail is pulled from it’s home to be eaten! Have you ever eaten conch? I have not. In Florida and other Caribbean areas, the conch is a delicacy and is made into fritters and other food, but it has been over fished so there are restrictions and fines associated with the collecting of it. Conch meat is used in chowder, salads, fried, fritters, sandwiches and more.
Queen (Pink) Conchs
For these two reasons, the Queen or Pink conch is in high demand. It is very unlikely that you will just come across a large, empty queen conch on the beach. They are trawled and taken from their homes out in the ocean and brought in for shell shops and restaurants. The queen conchs I have were purchased over 20 years ago at a shell shop some place in Florida. At the time, I never thought about where they came from, but I would definitely not purchase one now.
So when you vacation in the tropics, you might want to think twice before ordering conch fritters just to be able to say you’ve tried it.
*More strange food they eat in Florida – Alligator and turtle. I lived across the street from some people who had a cookout and the food was served buffet style. I added to my plate what looked like chicken nuggets and fortunately I was told that it was turtle meat before I tried it. Yikes, that was close. I love the Gopher turtles and could never ever eat one!
The queen conch (pronounced “konk”), or pink conch, is becoming endangered. The strombus gigas can grow to be quite large and has a pearly pink inside.
The shells I own (in the photo below) were purchased many years ago at a shell shop…can’t even remember where, but probably on Sanibel Island or Fort Meyers in Florida.
The Queen conch is an edible sea snail and a prized delicacy in parts of Florida and the Carribbean has been overly fished as a food source. This mollusk is found in the tropics from Bermuda to Brazil and fortunately some areas now have strict guidelines against over fishing. (See the links below for more info).
