Two cents worth from New Mexico:  I have enjoyed the discussion.  Marlo's
points are well taken and while I have to acknowledge that he is probably
correct in some of his assessments, I think he may be a bit pessimistic.  I
would like to point out that given the very worse one can say about a shell
club - a social group of "general collectors," collecting the biggest,
prettiest, most, etc.; I believe it is still probably a good thing on
balance.  One of the disturbing trends in our modern world is the disconnect
between man and environment.  As we become more and more insulated from the
world around us, we care less and less about what happens to it.  What
happens to the woods down the street, the lake down the hill, the river in
the valley, or the sea (thousands of miles away in my case), is of little to
no concern as long as we have fuel for the car, lots of channels on TV, new
games for the computer, etc.  That "general collector" put opposite a
"natural history collector" is in reality, one and the same in many aspects.
Let's face it, as shell collectors, we are only a bit removed from game
hunters with mounted heads on the wall.  Fifty years ago, many of us would
have also had collections of bird eggs and feathers - both now illegal.
Such a fate may also happen with shell collecting, and it will be a shame.
That general shell collector is much more likely to support environmental
programs (as is the game hunter).  Issues such as beach "renurishment,"
pollution in our waterways, dying reef systems, introduction of alien
species, deforestation, oil spills at sea, etc. are all issues that directly
effect the well being of our environment and the well being of shell
collecting.  Any given shell collector may not be an expert or
scientifically minded, but they have some level of  appreciation for and
probably a wonder of the natural world.  When that natural world is seen as
merely a source of support for the human population, then we have lost.  The
closest many people may get to even a slight appreciation of the wonders of
the "Blue Planet" is that pretty shell in the cabinet of the crazy man or
woman down the street who collects shells.  Even the most casual shell
collector serves as a natural history educator.  We have all talked to
otherwise educated people who thought shells were discards like outgrown
appartments; or others who ask, "What made the shell?"  "Where did you get
it?"  "Did you find all of these?"  "Is it made out of coral?"  I like to
think that whether I am talking to a school class or house guests about
shells, I am helping in some small fashion to bring these people a bit
closer to the natural world.  I believe each of us does this to some extent
or another, and I believe this tips the scales downwards from the possible
harm shell collecting might cause (I am not talking about commercial
collecting for either the tourist trade or the dinner table).  In any case,
shell clubs help foster the hobby and thus the extension of some levels of
natural history knowledge into the public realm.  A little is better than
none.

I recently read a rather scathing assessment of the "shell collecting
psychosis" on a web blog.  The writer is a scientist who collects shells
personally gathered, but regards the purchase of a shell as some how not
only wrong, but even a bit mentally unbalanced.  This was especially true if
the shell was high-priced.  In fact he (or she, don't want to give anything
away) is quite proud to have never purchased a shell.  Gottra love these
moral judgements...

Tom E. in chilly (at least tonight) New Mexico

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