|
|
Shells beads
The area of fossil shells easiest to reach is that at Waipio Peninsula. To find this area consult your Standard Oil Company
service station road map of Oahu. Fill your car with fine Chevron gasoline and drive Ewa on Farrington Highway (State Highway
90) through Pearl City toward Waipahu. About half a mile before entering Waipahu, highway 742 joins 90. Look for the State
Highway sign 742 on the right of Farrington but pointing left. Make this left turn onto Waipio Peninsula. Three-tenths of a
mile after turning left the road passes over an overpass. About 100 feet past the overpass you will see a cane-haul road.
Make a sharp left turn, almost 180 degrees, down the road to the bottom of the slope. There you will see what is now a dirt
road. This was once the railroad right-of-way. Turn left on this and proceed (in fine weather only) until under the overpass.
Then stop and look around. Ostrea retusa will be found on both sides of the cut and along the cut in both directions from the
overpass. Note in case you haven't guessed, I work for Standard Oil Company!
Sort through the shells carefully. They are mostly soft and easily broken. Complete sets of shells (both valves) can be found
with a little searching. Shells other than the Ostrea retusa that may be found along the road are not necessarily fossil
shells since the coral fill to make the road was hauled to the area.
Once you have all the Ostrea retusa you want for your collection, get back on Highway 90 (Farrington Highway) and proceed
through Waipahu. Nine and one half miles from Depot Street (in Waipahu) Farrington Highway joins the coast and runs parallel
toward Waianae. About a quarter of a mile toward Waianae after you can see the tracks of the railroad on your left, there is
a small dirt road that crosses the tracks out to the low bluffs overlooking the sea. These are the Nanakuli Sea Cliffs. As
you face the sea, Kahi Point is to your left, Waianae to your right. On the seaward side of the tracks a rough dirt and rock
road parallels the railroad in either direction for a short ways. This is strictly a fair weather road. Proceed carefully and
don't try it during wet weather.
[Two photos of fossil areas omitted]
There are several places in this area where it is safe to climb down the sea cliffs to the rocky sea shore. Then you will be
able to clamber over the rocks and broken coral that has tumbled down from the cliffs and locate fossil shells. There are
fossils all along the sea cliff but my favorite place is almost to Kahi Point. I have found Conus tulipa, Lambis species,
Strombus mutabilis, and many others in two days (one hour each day) of fossil collecting.
I have seen many children playing along the shore line beneath the sea cliffs and it is safe for children provided they have
supervision and receive help in getting down the rather steep trails. However, stay away from the area when big surf is
running and during Kona storms.
Recently Mr. Trevor J. Sutcliffe, Mount Yokine (Western Australia) has sent me for examination, a Zoila venusta (Sowerby; of
67 mm which he and Mr. Milton East have collected by skin-diving in Geographe Bay, west Australia. The pale orange dorsal
blotches and the unspotted pink margins prove it to be a typical venusta. Besides, Mr. Ray Summers of Petaluma (California)
sent me a color photograph of a similar venusta of 73 mm, which had been collected at Busselton in Geographe Bay, and Mr. C.
N. Cate, Los Angeles (California) possesses another venusta of 69 mm, found in 60 feet off Binningup. Consequently the true
venusta lives in the same area as the dark spotted episema Iredale does, which spreads from Cape Naturaliste to Abrolhos Is.
(coll. Cate), and developed near Perth the dwarf race sorrentensis Schilder. Therefore Zoila episema should be classified as
[a] "morphe" of subspecific rank (see Schilder, 1966, Veliger 8:185) as it is sympatric with the closely allied Z. venusta
and hardly differs in structure, but distinctly in color without any intermediateds known up to now.
The cowrie Lyncina sulcidentata (Gray) is restricted to the Philippine Islands from Philippines to Kure. Nevertheless its
length varies considerably, viz. from 25 to 68 mm, and its relative breadth (expressed in per cent of length) varies from 62
to 83%. Such extremes, however, are rare; the "usual variation" is 32-48 mm and 68-75% respectively: this range comprises two
thirds of specimens approaching the mean and is approximately equal to the double standard deviation (see The Veliger 8:209,
1966).
In the diagram (page 6) 112 adult shells from various localities have been plotted by length against relative breadth: each
dot indicates one shell, the straight lines indicate the limits of "usual variation" in each character calculated by
excluding the extreme [one-]sixth on each end, and the circle passing through the four points of intersection theoretically
comprises about two thirds of shells approaching the center in both characters (40 mm, 71.5%).
The diagram shows two peculiarities: first the median (small circle in 38/72) is eccentric, as most specimens accumulate in
the left half of the diagram, so that the curve of variation in length becomes skew (as it is in many animals); second, there
is a distinct negative correlation between length and relative breadth, as the small shells are relatively broad, the large
shells more slender (as it is in most cowrie shells): for the upper left and the lower right areas outside the limits of
usual variation contain twelve specimens, but the lower left and the upper right corners contain none.
shells beads,cyprea mauretiana,nasa shell,sigay shells,wholesaler,moonshell orange,shells fashion,earring,brown lip,shells beads
Shells beads decorative troca bead capis hanging lamp shell component native white abalone natural body jewelry shell beads hair puka necklaces conus textile blacktab puka necklaces natural fashion jewelry turbo pitholatus capis shells.
shells beads
Shell
Bracelets
|
