provided to The Santiva Chronicle
A new exhibition opened on Tuesday, Nov. 26, at the Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium: “All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Amazing Abalone Shells.”
Shells of the Abalone group of marine gastropods represent a diversity of color, pattern, and visual impact matched by very few others. Many abalones have an otherworldly, iridescent quality prized as a source for jewelry, decorative objects, and mother-of-pearl.
This exhibition of 60 Abalone shells from the museum’s collection showcases wide-ranging varieties from around the globe, focusing on their unique beauty, factors that make the shells appear the way they do, classification, fisheries, and conservation status.
Science Director and Curator Dr. José H. Leal organized “All That Glitters,” the first of a new series at the museum that frequently rotates, focused exhibitions of shells. Future subjects may include groups or families of shells, geographic location, rarities, exceptional private collections, and more.
“The museum’s collection of over 550,000 specimens contains countless gems such as these abalones,” said Dr. Leal. “We look forward to introducing these and other beautiful and rare groups of shells through this new exhibition series in the future.”
The “All That Glitters” exhibition is made possible by a grant from the Glenn W. Bailey Foundation.
Plan your visit and learn more at ShellMuseum.org/special-exhibitions.
About the Museum: The Bailey-Matthews National Shell Museum & Aquarium is a natural history museum and aquarium, and the only museum in the United States devoted primarily to shells and mollusks. Its mission is to use exceptional collections, aquariums, programs, experiences, and science to be the nation’s leading museum in conserving, preserving, interpreting, and celebrating shells, the mollusks that create them, and their ecosystems. For more information, visit ShellMuseum.org or call (239) 395-2233