Oysters make pearls so they can feel better. When a grain of sand or debris gets stuck in their bodies, they ease the pain and irritation by coating it with multiple layers of nacre, the mineral that lines the inside of their shells, and pearl begins to form. Basically, pearls are like blisters, only much prettier. Source
Cartoons led us to think that you only get one pearl per oyster, but they can definitely form more than one as a time - as evidenced by these photos!
okay, so trivia thing I learned recently! Pearls are actually very rarely formed around sand, because oysters can clean that shit out fairly easily. Pearls are far more commonly formed around parasites (like little worms or snails)…which decompose inside the pearl and have a gross tendency to ooze out when the pearls are drilled for jewelry holes.
Hooray for cultured pearls that aren’t made with a core of dead parasite!
