I ran across the Too Precious to Wear website today http://www.tooprecioustowear.org/
I think the site does a nice job of providing an overview of the affect that coral collecting has; both scientifically and on the local economies. The site also provides a list of alternatives to using coral.
Those of you who know me already know that the sea environment is important to me. A trip to Cocos Island years ago highlighted the difference in fish and crustacean populations in a managed marine reserve vs. the open fishing which goes on in most of our oceans. The marine reserve around Cocos was lush relatively speaking, but our dive guide who’d been visiting for 20 years said that even the reserve was far less lush than it had been in the past. The creatures go in and out of the reserve, and many are fished and can’t come back.
On several trips to Belize over the years, I’ve noticed the dwindling coral populations and the decline in reef fish populations. Since the fish help the coral by cleaning off algae and the coral are often the nurseries for the fish, when one or both are affected, both populations decline.
Growing at rates of 0.6 cm – 3.9 cm / year, the colonies of tiny animals known collectively as coral are very vulnerable to man made disruptions. And, since they are animals (not just the calcified shells of these animals that people collect in their homes once they are dead), I prefer to leave them alone. My jewelry is designed to showcase their beauty and share the experience of seeing coral without using coral directly.
I travel with molding compound and sit on the beach with dead coral, shells and lava bits I gather from the beach. I mold these natural objects so I can take their textural beauty home with me. When I’m finished molding the coral, shells and lava bits, I put them back where I found them so that nature can continue on with it’s processes. The bits eventually decompose, but in the meantime they can be homes for tiny creatures.
Once I’m back home, I use the molded textures in my creations, and all these years later I’m still amazed by the variety of shapes I find. I’m also amazed by the similarities I can find in coral textures from different parts of the world.
I’ve include two pictures that show some of the coral diversity I’ve found and incorporated into my jewelry. The “Modern Cameo” line of jewelry as seen in “Craters” at the top of this post, ask the question “What’s more precious? The profile of a person you don’t know in a traditional cameo, or nature?”
If you’re interested in the science, you can read more about coral growth rates at these sites:
http://www.eoearth.org/article/Coral_growth_and_climate_change
http://www.grisda.org/origins/06088.htm
If you’d like to see more coral textures in fine silver, check out my website: http://sherrycordova.com/
