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     Searching for gold and spices, Christopher Columbus reached Margarita's coastline on August 15, 1498 and found himself with a friendly welcome by the Guaiqueri Indians, who brought their most fascinating present: NATURAL PEARLS. Starting the year 1499, expeditions to the isle took place and ever since Margarita Island has been known as "The Pearl of the Caribbean".
   For more than 500 years, the pearls of Margarita, Cubagua and Coche Island have adorned many, until the XX Century brought the cultivated pearl from Japan. Today, you find in Margarita Island many places were to shop the pearls for very little money.
   The Mother-Pearls in Margarita, Cubagua and Coche Island belongs to the species Pinctada imbricata, were the size of the shell rare is over 3 1/2 inches (7 cm). It's found in shallow and almost clear waters, close to the surface, over sandy buttom , were the grain is usually big surrounded by dead corals, shells and rocks in a depth interval of 15 - 90 ft. (3 - 30 m.). The interior of the valve is cover with beautiful nacar and the exterior has a brownish-black color with radial stripes that vary from light brown to reddish colors.
   The Mother-Pearl, as most bi-valve mollusks, will feed herself by filtering the sea water and retaining micro-organisms, usually microscopic seaweeds or organic particles suspended in water. In the abundant oyster area, we find the ascending cold waters from the depth sea bringing along inorganic compounds like nitrates, silicates and phosphates that serve as fertilizers to increase the production of masive microscopic seeweeds, fitoplancton and enriching the waters with organic material. The abundance of this sort of nourishment bring up grups of filtering animal species, such as sardines among the fishes and oysters among the bi-valve mollusks. In our oyster areas, the temperature of the water lays around 70º-80º F. (21º-27ºC)