Black Pearl Farm, Raiatea, French Polynesia – May 26th

We are anchored off the coast of Raiatea, our first of six stops in French Polynesia and the second largest island in the archipelago, after Tahiti. It is the center of the eastern, or leeward, or sous le vent islands; and it is likely that the original migrations to Hawaii originated here.

Actually, the houses and buildings here today look just the same as everywhere else in the world. These vendor huts at the cruise pier are for tourists to see what they expect to see.

We visited a black pearl farm where we snorkeled in the oyster beds, saw a demonstration of cultured pearl techniques, and, que surpris, had the opportunity to buy black pearls.

The Anapaperle Farm rides herd on 20,000 head of oysters spread across two acres on the bay side (sheltered and protected side) of the reef. The oysters are attached to tender ropes by lines run through small holes drilled through the hinge side of the oyster shells so they can open and close unimpeded. The ropes have anchors and floats that keep the oysters suspended at about 30 feet, where the water temperature, water oxygen level and phytoplankton count is just about ideal.

Anapaperle uses the cultured pearl technique developed a century ago by Mikimoto. A string of oysters is brought up and an impurity is surgically implanted in the reproductive organ. The oyster secretes mother-of-pearl, the shiny substance lining the inside of the shell, to encapsulate the irritant. It takes two years for them to grow the 0.85 millimeter thick coating required by commercial specs.

 Above is an oyster pried open about a half-an-inch to have an impurity the size inserted or a pearl removed.

Above is the surgical removal of a pearl from an oyster. To see the implanting of an irritant, just run the video backwards in your mind. Impurities just larger than a bee bee are first inserted in five year-old oysters. Two years later the pearl is removed and simultaneously a new and bigger impurity just slightly larger than the old pearl is re-inserted.

Above are the various sizes of irritant / impurities that are inserted, made from Mississippi River mussel shells for low rejection levels. Go figure. They’re round to hopefully get perfectly round pearls. Doesn’t always work: 80% of the time the mother-of-pearl is secreted non-uniformly, yielding egg or oval or tear-drop pearls. When a pearl is removed, a larger-than-the-last irritant is inserted into the now stretched-bigger cavity. Each oyster produces four ever-bigger pearls over an eight year period before being harvested for its mother-of-pearl shell.

Above a pearl “surgeon” is removing the thin membrane that covers the mother-of-pearl inner shell of a 13 year-old oyster undergoing final harvest. Black pearls are grown from “black-rimmed pearls,” so-called because of the black rim around the outside of the mother-of-pearl shell.

Now the “pearl surgeon” has taken a length of membrane that covered the black rim and is cutting it into small pieces. Turns out that the DNA of this membrane determines the color of the mother-of-pearl secretions. When a small piece of membrane that covered the black rim is inserted with the impurity, it results in black secretions, and thus black pearls.

Above are the pearls removed by the “pearl surgeon.” To become a certified pearl surgeon requires a three year apprenticeship. It is a skill often passed down from father to son.

This all reminds me of Steinbeck’s classic novel, The Pearl. But Kino dove for pearls in Baja California, not Polynesia. The ship stops in Cabo San Lucas, but the pearl beds there played out years ago.

We snorkeled over the oyster beds and the protecting reef. We had great water clarity and here are some highlights:

Not surprisingly, on a reef perfect for oysters, we saw amazing giant clams. Above is a blue-lipped clam.

And a green-lipped clam

And of course a blue-green clam

Last, but not least, an I-am-curious-yellow reef fish.

So ended our first day in French Polynesia. Tomorrow: Bora Bora, the inspiration for the mythical “Bali Hai” in the musical “South Pacific.” Joani and I have something special planned on this, our 40th anniversary year.