Where are natural pearls found? The answer may surprise you...yes, natural pearls can be found almost anywhere.
You will find this information very interesting, especially as it was written by a well-known pearl expert, George Kunz, about one hundred years ago in 1908. This historical evidence of where are natural pearls found is valuable, but is not accurate when looking at current statistics of finding and harvesting natural pearls; indeed many areas are now under restrictions when collecting natural pearls are concerned. One area is Scotland, for example. So...when reading this page of selected passages of Kunz's work, please keep the time of writing in mind.
Where are natural pearls found?
In geographic range, the source of pearls are widely distributed, each one of the six continents yielding its quota; but the places where profitable fisheries are prosecuted are restricted in area. First in point of value, and possibly of antiquity also, are the fisheries of the Persian Gulf, giving employment ordinarily to thirty thousand or more divers.
The yield in the likewise ancient fisheries of the Gulf of Manaar is uncertain, but sometimes remarkable large. The Red Sea resources are now of slight importance compared with their extent in the time of the Ptolemies. Other Asiatic fisheries are in the Gulf of Aden, about Mergui Archipelago, on the coast of China, Japan, Korea, and Siam, and also in the rivers of China, Manchuria, and Siberia.
Aside from those produced in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, the pearl fisheries of Africa are of small extent. Some reefs exist on the lower coast of the German East African territory and also in Portuguese East Africa, but they have not been thoroughly exploited.
In most of the inshore waters of Australasia pearls may be secured; the fisheries are most extensive on the northern coast of Australia, in the Sulu Archipelago, and about the Dutch East Indies. Tuamotu Archipelago, Gambier, Fiji and Penrhyn are prominent in the South Pacific Ocean.
South America contributes the important reefs on the coast of Venezuela--the land of unrest and revolutions, whose fisheries were first exploited by Columbus. Other South American countries in which pearls are collected are Panama, Ecuador, Peru,etc.
In North America, pearls are found in the pearl oyster of the Gulf of California, the abalone of the Pacific coast, the queen conch of the Gulf of Mexico, pearls in Canada and the Unios of most of the North American rivers, especially those of the Mississippi River Valley.
So...where are natural pearls found? The more I read and research pearls I realize that pearls can be found almost anywhere. I enjoy hearing from folks from all over the earth, from the East coast of the USA to New Zealand people still find natural pearls. See links below the following form to view of these finds.
I LOVE hearing about finding a pearl! Natural pearls are my favorites and there is such a thrill when finding a pearl.
They can be found anywhere there are mollusks. I once found one while eating oysters. Sure, some are valuable and some are not...but they all are special...especially to the one who found it.
Tell us all about finding a pearl and be sure to include a photo. Give us all the juicy details, where, when, how, why, and what you've decided to do with it, like maybe you've put it into a ring or just a neat little box to show all your friends.