We’ve got to stop making excuses for them, that these islanders are simply trying to make a living. And we’ve got to stop thinking that one small purchase wouldn’t make any difference. The trade of sea shells is illegal for a very good reason: it’s there for the conservation of our fragile marine ecosystem.
The shell in these pictures is an immature Giant Helmet Shell (Cassis cornuta), still very young and a long way to go before it would’ve reached maturity. I have a photo of a full-grown adult, which I saw at a depth of around 80 feet [click here to view]. It was a magnificent creature!
Giant helmet shell
‘It’s a lovely collectible, a perfect souvenir from the sea.’ Believe me, it’s so much more beautiful alive and in the water — where it belongs!
These mollusks used to be plentiful in these parts. Now, it’s a rare treat for us divers to see them in their natural habitat. Who knows what kind of damage poachers are doing to our marine biodiversity as the shell population steadily decreases? If we keep buying these shells — the skeletons of underwater creatures — we perpetrate the crime: we become part of the problem facing the marine environment.
Crown-of-thorns
Another shell that’s been nearly wiped out from the waters around Samal is the Giant Triton (Charonia tritonis). This dramatic drop in population, due to overfishing, is one of the causes of the sharp increase in Crown-of-Thorns Sea Star (Acanthaster planci) numbers. These voracious sea stars devour coral polyps like crazy and can decimate entire colonies in a matter of days. Crown-of-thorns are aggressively predated on by the triton, but with so little of the latter left, divers have been reporting of “COTS infestations” at an alarming rate.
I haven’t heard of any method of encouraging triton population to surge back. But what I do know is that we should try our darnedest best to keep what’s left alive.
So, please, don’t buy sea shells.
Hello Blogie,love your pictures,keep em comin. You know when i go to the fish market here in Davao,i am alway shocked at what i see for sale.Very small fish,rare fish,endangered fish,People buy it because they don’t know any better. Maybe you can get permission to post pictures of endangered fish species at the fish market so that people can be educated and hopefully refuse to support fish vendors who sell such fish. If it causes one person to think before they purchase,it will be worth the effort.
If you spend any time at the numerous resorts on Samal Island,one will always be approached by an islander selling such shells.Sorry to say i was one of those people that purchased two of those shells you mentioned in this article but had i known what i now know from your article,i would have never purchased them.
So now because of the information that you have provided here i have been educated about this matter. Thank you for your work.
Hi Francis & Sherry! Thanks for dropping in and sharing your thoughts.
It would indeed be very ideal to have those signs at public markets, showing people endangered fish species. However, I doubt very much if the fish vendors would support that. Having such signs, in their view, would result in less income for them.
The solution is education. Little by little, that’s what I’m trying to do. And I’m very happy that my efforts are already starting to pay off. :)