Philadelphia Shell Club Holds Annual Show At Academy Of Natural Sciences
By Molly Daly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The annual Philadelphia Shell Show lured collectors, crafters, and the curious to the Academy of Natural Sciences this weekend.
Who knew there was a club for folks who are fascinated by shells, let alone a show where they can buy, sell, and learn about shells, and the critters they housed? Until last year, Deven Wagenhoffer didn't, till she saw a shell creation on social media.
"I actually found it on Pinterest," Wagenhoffer said. "Someone pinned a few of the sailor's valentines that were in the show, and I Googled away, and here I am a year later."
Now she's a member, in quahog heaven at the variety of specimens on display.
"It's so exciting, to see how many different species there are -- the colors, the variations -- from all over the world," she said.
Sue Hobbs is a member, and she sells shells.
"They're natural, beautiful sculptures, made by nature," Hobbs said. "Each one is unique. They're colorful, they're textural, they're tactile."
They're not all sea shells -- mollusks live in freshwater, on land, in trees, even deserts.
With 10 million specimens, the collection at the Academy of Natural Sciences is the 3rd largest in the world. Malacology collection manager Paul Calloman says mollusks are pretty much everywhere. And how some get around might surprise you.
"There's a tiny clam that is known to get caught up in storm clouds, so it has actually rained down in central Pennsylvania," Paul Callomon said. "It's a marine clam."
There's a lot to learn from mollusks. Callomon the gut bacteria from one wood-burrowing species may help fuel the future.
"By digesting cellulose, they have to convert it to alcohols. So if we're looking for biofuels, those are the guys we should be looking at, which we are," Callomon said. "We're actually being paid by the Department of Energy to examine the bacteria in the guts of wood-eating bivalves."