Pearl Farm & Rangiroa
Marita3
Mark & Helen Syrett
Sat 5 May 2012 03:17
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Before we left Manihi we visited a pearl farm. We
went by high speed boat across the flat water of the lagoon to the farm. There
are about six farms within the lagoon but a few years ago there were nearer two
hundred.
 We had a demonstration of how cultured pearls are
formed and the intricate and skilled process involved
 After harvesting the larvae which is allowed to
grow for three years each oyster is opened and a circular piece of shell
(Mississippi mussel shell) inserted into a sac in the oyster together with a
piece of muscle from another oyster. This is precision work and the table of
instruments looked as if they had come from a dentist's surgery. The
oysters are then put back in the lagoon in protective nets for another two
years
 They are then harvested and the pearl removed and
another piece of shell inserted, this time without the piece of muscle. The
oyster can be used four times.
  the success rate is not high especially for the top
quality pearls.
We sailed the following day to Rangiroa. We caught
a barracuda on the way.
 After arriving at Rangiroa we went to the
local village for provisions which were very limited and called in at the church
next to the shop..
 We had lunch in a cafe overlooking the passage into
the lagoon and watched the water racing by and the black tip sharks swimming on
the reef below the cafe terrace
 Marita is anchored off the Kia Ora beach resort
which is a major dive centre except when a Tiger Shark enters the lagoon---that
causes the divers to return to base!
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