Friday, January 27, 2012

Why do some sea shells turn purple?

I live on the British Columbia coast, on Vancouver Island. On the seashore, we have many sea shells (say that 10 times fast). My question is, why is it that some sea shells turn purple on the inside? Does it have something to do with red tide?

Why do some sea shells turn purple?
I would think it would have to do with the minerals that were used in the making of the shell itself. Red tide is caused by a type of algae, so, unless this "purple" you are talking about can be scraped off, it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with it, and even if it can, it probably isn't the same species of algae. Hope this helps!
Reply:if you're talking about the shiny, iridescent purple coating that forms, Its called mother-of-pearl. The sea organism secretes that coating to smooth and strengthen its shell. It has almost no monetary value though, sorry =P

augmon

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