Natural Puka Shell Formation
The shell of a cone snail is cone-shaped, and closed at the larger end. When the dead shell is rolled for a long time by the waves in the breaking surf and coral rubble, the narrow end of the shell breaks off or is gradually ground off, leaving only the more solid top of the shell intact.
Given enough time, the tip of the spire of the shell usually also wears down, and thus a natural hole is formed from one side to the other. This shell fragment can be considered to be a sort of a natural bead, and is known as a "puka". Real puka shells are not flat: one side of the bead is slightly convex, the other concave. The concave side of the bead clearly shows the spiral form of the interior of the spire of the cone shell.
Read more about this topic: Puka Shell
Famous quotes containing the words natural, shell and/or formation:
“The method of painting is the natural growth out of a need. I want to express my feelings rather than illustrate them. Technique is just a means of arriving at a statement.... I can control the flow of paint: there is no accident, just as there is no beginning and no end.”
—Jackson Pollock (1912–1956)
“If there was one egg in it there were nine,
Torpedo-like, with shell of gritty leather,
All packed in sand to wait the trump together.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“I want you to consider this distinction as you go forward in life. Being male is not enough; being a man is a right to be earned and an honor to be cherished. I cannot tell you how to earn that right or deserve that honor. . . but I can tell you that the formation of your manhood must be a conscious act governed by the highest vision of the man you want to be.”
—Kent Nerburn (20th century)