>I have been lurking on this list for a good while, enjoying the useful
>information, occassional travelogue, and moments of humor. This list has
>all of the qualities of a genuine community with wisdom, character and
>personality all mixed together.
>
>For a bit of an introduction-
>
>I live in Southern California and began to collect local Cenozoic fossil
>mollusks about ten years ago. Since then, I have pursued fossil mollusks
>very seriously and have collected fossils extensively in my local area,
>the Pacific Northwest and Hawaii.  About five years ago, I began to
>collect landsnails seriously as well.  Just recently, I began to enter
>into the world of modern marine shells. And what a different world it
>is...
>
>Over the years, I have been able to acquire a fairly large collection of
>fossils through trading local material with fellow collectors in France,
>England, Uruguay, Australia, Italy, Japan, Austria, Canada and, of
>course, the US.  Trading has proven to be a wonderful experience as I've
>"met" some fascinating people while building a decent collection.  In
>exchanges with others, I have always tried to send my trading partners
>the best specimens available and have been generally been very pleased
>with the material that I received in return.  True, an apex may be
>somewhat worn, a spine tip slightly broken or a lip slightly abraded but
>such is the nature of preservation of fossil mollusks.
>
>I have rarely encountered many fossil shells for sale and have,
>therefor, rarely purchased any.  I have exhibited fossil mollusks in a
>number of shows (fossil, gem and mineral shows) and have usually done
>quite well in competition.
>
>Suddenly, I've encountered a new world that assigns a specific monetary
>value to every shell and uses codes like F, F+++ and GEM to address
>every detail of a shell's condition.   Frankly, its all a bit
>intimidating to a new collector who would like to be "serious".  But,
>when you see specimens selling for thousands of dollars, the thought of
>developing a fairly extensive collection of any genus is somewhat
>daunting.
>
>Even so, I have been plugging away in earnest and have a number of very
>basic questions for the veterans on this list:
>
>1) How (where?) does one collect in Southern California?  I have been
>reading about the shelling restrictions in California and I wondered
>what local collectors do if they are interested in picking up local
>species while remaining within the limits of the law.  Do the beach
>collecting restrictions apply to the islands off the coast as well?
>
>2)  Assuming that one answer is diving, how do dive boat captains react
>to shellers?  Are there general suggestions for finding boats where
>shelling is welcome or ways to avoid those where it is not?
>
>3) What sorts of collecting bags/bottles/etc. do people prefer for
>snorkling?  How about for diving?  Why?
>
>4) What is the best way to get rid of coralline algae?  I've noticed
>that quite a few of the shells in our local tidepools are fairly well
>encrusted and encountered many shells in Hawaii completely coated with
>the white or pink gunk.
>
>5)  Any shelling suggestions for Maui and Kauai?  I plan to visit both
>islands in December.
>
>
>(I know that some of these questions have been covered somewhat in
>recent threads but I haven't been able to distill out the specific
>answers I'm looking for.)
>
>I apologize for going on a little too long and for unleashing too many
>questions on the list at one time.  But, you know how eager us novices
>can be..............
>
>Looking forward to continuing to learn much from this very special
>community.
>
>
>Phil Liff-Grieff
>La Crescenta, California
>[log in to unmask]
 
Phil,
I have just moved from Southern California and belonged to 2 shell clubs
ther. (I still do, even though I live in Northern California.  You should
contact Kathy or Joe Kalohi (President & Editor from Pacific Shell Club)
Their e-mail address is  "[log in to unmask]"  The Pacific Shell Club is
a group of wonderful people, many of whom are divers and underwater
photographers.  They will be able to give you information and insights into
collecting there.  Tell them I sent you to them and wish them a great
future shelling.  There is also a man at the L.A. County Museum of Natural
Histery (Joe Cocke) who is the local landsnail person and is knowledgeable
about landsnails in L.A. County.
        A third suggestion is to talk with Lindsey Groves at LACMNH
(President of the Conchological Club of Southern California).  This is
another interesting group of malocologists and paleontologists that meet at
the county museum each month.  Lindsey's e-mail address is
"[log in to unmask]".  Lindsey is a great guy and can give you a lot of
information, and the club is an interesting group.  Dr. James McLean is the
sponsor and is the head malocologist for the museum and #1 on the west
coast.  His e-mail adress is "[log in to unmask]  Tell them all hi for me.
Dan Yoshimoto
 
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Dan & Hiromi Yoshimoto
1164 Vista Dr.
Eureka, California
        95503-6018
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]