Bas,

Why do we collect shells, anyway?

If people perceive that we do it for personal gain or even in the pursuit of
beauty, then they may be excused for thinking that we are self-indulgent.
Whether collecting has a significant effect on molluscan populations is
another matter, but it is true that people make a connection between
collecting and dwindling populations more easily than they can perceive the
connection between, say, beach renourishment and dwindling populations.

Now, if people see a connection between collecting and learning about
mollusks, for example, if they see that the collector spends some time
teaching elementary school students or donates shells to schools, or even
writes articles about shells, then they are likely to realize that
collecting is part of a more general appreciation for nature.

I wonder why public attitudes toward collecting shells have been hardening
so much in recent years, but I suspect that it is part of a broader
phenomenon. When I was a kid, my teachers told us never to pick a wildflower
unless we saw six others close by, and if we could resist temptation,
preferably not to pick any. This was in the context of a culture that, a few
years earlier, had seen no reason not to pick wildflowers at will, and in
consequence was seeing its wildflower species decline. Now I prefer to
photograph wildflowers, but see no reason not to pick a few for the table on
occasion, if I see a whole field of a common species in bloom and know that
the landowner will not object. Even then, I prefer to look at them outdoors
in context, or to cultivate plants indoors.

If my teachers had said more simply, "Don't ever pick wildflowers," then I
would not feel free to wiggle within the rules a little. Is that what is
happening now? Something like it happened decades ago among birdlovers, and
is happening now among butterfly watchers. It seems a bit strange to extend
this kind of restriction to dead shells as well as living mollusks, but
there it is. What we learn early, we learn well.

Cheers,
Andy

Andrew K. Rindsberg
Geological Survey of Alabama

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