Description
Marble Cone Shells
Amazing cone shells. Anyone read “The Shell Collector” by Anthony Doerr? What a great short story and based on Lamu Island off the Kenyan coast. Cone shells figure in this book, their powers, their beauty and some are of course very poisonous ( not when we send them to you ). They are found all round the world end even off the coast of California. Again, not when sent out to our customers ( !!! ) they have sharp teeth some of which are barely visible and these work with the snail’s toxins to create a harpoon effect to paralyse fish and other prey. Stepping on one of these is not advisable. The venom acts fast ( it has to…..fish move fast too ). What makes them one of the most dangerous species in the ocean is the fact that some of them bury themselves in the sea bed to hunt their pray. Being so beautiful presents the risk of divers and beach combers picking them up. A final amazing fact and probably the one that persuades or dissuades your purchase is that over 60 per cent of people that get stung by a geography cone ( we’ve decided not to sell these ) do expire if they dont get to a hospital in time – there is no cure! So most of the cone shells venom is not too good for us but resaerch of late indicates that a component in the venom is a very effective painkiller – a thousand times more effective than morphine. We highly recommend these cleaned out and on display as a seashell as well as being a good talking point at a dinner party but not to be served. Sometimes referred to as just “cones” these polished intricately patterned marble cone shells are probably the most popular and collectible in the shop. They look especially good in small clusters anywhere around the home. Please e-mail or call to buy shells at bulk prices.
These are included in our Pick ‘N Mix selection. Buy any 10 products with the Pick ‘n Mix logo for £25.
