La Lucia Ridge family tell a tale of two shells
Michelle Govender recently found a pansy shell which is now among her treasured collection of shells.
SHELL-COLLECTING is a pastime one can enjoy at any age and one that opens a world of beauty with a variety of shapes and colours to explore and enjoy.
One person who can attest to this is Michelle Govender and her daughter, Anya (6).
The duo love collecting shells from Durban’s shores, and Michelle recently found not one, but two rare pansy shells near Addington Beach.
“It is incredibly rare to find an intact pansy shell on the beach. They are actually the skeleton of a sea urchin. My daughter and I were walking along the shore when we found two of those shells, but at the time, I didn’t know what they were. I actually thought they were part of a swimming costume or pieces from a necklace, and I tossed them back into the sand.
“Later that evening, I was reading a book with Anya called ‘My First Book of Southern African Shells’, and low and behold, it mentioned pansy shells and the rarity of them. I was so disheartened and was kicking myself for throwing them back into the ocean. Anya wasn’t pleased either. We went back to the same spot the next day, and sadly, the shells were no longer there. They must’ve been carried away by the tide,” Michelle explained.
As fate would have it, weeks later, on a trip to Mozambique, Michelle’s husband Melvin was scouring the beach in the hopes of discovering a rare find to bring home to his family.
“Another man saw my husband picking up shells and asked what he was doing. He mentioned he was collecting shells for his wife and daughter, and out of his pocket, the man pulls out a pansy shell. He simply said, ‘Give this shell to your wife – I’m sure she’ll love it.’ What are the chances of that? I realise it isn’t the same shell I threw back into the ocean, but to find a third rare pansy shell was just incredible. Both Anya and I were so thrilled when he brought the pansy shell home. I now actually keep it in my cupboard for safekeeping,” she said.
Michelle has already started an enviable collection of amazing seashells she hopes to display on a much larger scale in her home.
“It is something fun my daughter has enjoyed, and as a family, it makes outings to the beach that much more fun,” she said.
