The conch. Such a fascinating gastropod, and with so many uses both culinary and decorative. In certain cultures, religiously significant. A rudimentary musical instrument for a shell. And did I mention delicious?
Live conchs enjoy motoring around uninhibitedly on the sea floor, keeping an eye out…
Conchs also enjoy racing each other…
“Eat my dust…”
Conch Pearl – one of the rarest natural pearls in the world
A conch spiral close-up
Conch shells just lie around the place at Sandy Point
Conchs are widely used for serving cocktails or as ashtrays in the best beach bars*
*This is a lie. Sorry about that. I meant to say “make prefect table decorations”
Most conchs encountered in daily life are lying peacefully on the beach; or are artfully displayed; or are found in conch heaps (often in the vicinity of restaurants) like the ones below at Sandy Point.
These shells at Sandy Point are so plentiful that they form a small spit of ‘land’ into the sea
An attractive display of conch shells in Marsh Harbour
A less formal arrangement along the jetty at Man o’ War Cay (after a storm)
It’s easy to forget that these shells are more than just a garden adornment, or pretty containers for a ubiquitous Caribbean food. Under the sea, and not very far at that, are living creatures going about their daily lives.
And that includes reproducing. This sounds as if it might be a cumbersome process, but (like porcupines) they seem to manage. Here is a pair preparing to mate. The male behind is presumably about to… well never mind. I’ve never seen the process, so it’s a case of using imagination. Or just accepting that, whatever it is that they do, it works. [I haven’t located a video online – I’ll post one if I do]
You’ll find some more about Conchs in a previous post HERE, including 12 Unputdownable Conch Facts, notes on conservation matters and… a photo of Honeychile Rider, arguably the most famous conch-carrier ever. Oh, she was fictional, you say? But I always though she… How verydisappointing.
And if you want to know how to clean a conch, a dude will show you in a video on this pageHERE
Finally, check out the very informative websiteCOMMUNITY CONCH, a charitable conservation organisation
Conchs are among the most familiar of all shells. On Abaco they are everywhere: in the sea, on the beach, used ornamentally in gardens, piled up wherever conch is on the menu… (basically, anywhere serving food)
Conchs have other uses besides being a staple food. They provide sought-after pink pearls. Only about 1 conch in 10,000 has a pearl, so bear in mind that if you miss one during your search, you may have another 10,000 to wade through… Conchs can produce music, of a sort (such as when used enthusiastically by the famous ‘conch-blower’ home-team supporter during cricket Test Matches in the West Indies). They are undeniably decorative on a porch or on a shelf.
Conchs have featured in literature and film. In William Golding’s Lord of the Flies the conch represents power and order. A conch is blown to call meetings of the marooned boys. Its power is symbolised by the rule that you have to be holding it to speak at the meeting (an idea that many – all? – Parliaments could benefit from…)
Ian Fleming mentions conchs in several of the Bond books, all such references being totally eclipsed by the memory of the appearance, in the film Dr No, of Honeychile Rider emerging from the sea, conch in hand. Oh, I see. That’s just men is it? Or (good grief) just me? Anyway, may we all agree amicably that Ursula Andress was a most decorative conch carrier?
CONCH CONSERVATION
The supply of conchs is not infinite. Overfish them, take them before maturity or pollute their habitat and this valuable marine resource depletes – and conchs, as with so many marine species, will become threatened. Fortunately there is a Bahamas-wide conservation organisation with a website packed with interest.
COMMUNITY CONCH is “a nonprofit organization that aims to protect queen conchs in the Bahamas, a species of mollusk threatened by aggressive over-fishing. We promote sustainable harvest of queen conch through research, education and community-based conservation”
“Helping to sustain a way of life in the Bahamas”
Much of the research has been carried out in Berry Is, Andros and Exuma Cays. However the team has recently been based at Sandy point, Abaco. To see some of their work on AbacoCLICK LINK===>>ABACO EXPEDITION
In many past posts I have listed ’10 Essential Facts’ about the topic discussed. In that spirit I have borrowed and slightly edited CC’s conch facts; and added a CC video of a conch’s stately ‘full speed ahead’ progress. NB No zoom…
12 CONCH FACTS
The queen conch is a large edible sea snail native to the coasts of the Caribbean, the Florida Keys, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Conchs are herbivores – they eat algae and other tiny marine plants
Main predators include nurse sharks, loggerhead turtles, other snail species, blue crabs, eagle rays, spiny lobsters, and other crustaceans
Mating aggregations may contain hundreds or even thousands of individual male and female conchs
Female conchs lay hundreds of thousands of tiny eggs in a sandy egg mass. The larvae emerge after 5 days and may drift on ocean currents for a month before settling in suitable habitat on the sea floor
In their first year conchs live under the sand during the day & come out to feed on the surface at night
A queen conch may take 5 years to reach maturity and can reproduce
They live an average of 7 years, but are known to live as long as 20 – 30 years
Conchs produce natural pearls that come in a range of hues, including white, brown, orange & pink
The conch is listed byCITESas a species which may become threatened with extinction if trade is not tightly controlled
It is now illegal to take queen conchs in the state of Florida due to severe overfishing
80% of legal internationally traded conch is consumed in the United States. The smuggling of conch meat into the U.S. is a significant challenge to conch management in The Bahamas
Queen conch are vulnerable to overfishing because they are (1) relatively slow to grow (2) late to mature (3) aggregate to mate (4) easily harvested in shallow waters
A SPEEDY CONCH
(Conch photos taken by RH / Mrs RH at Sandy Point, Abaco)
ROLLING HARBOUR ABACO 
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