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What are the Odds?

What are the odds?  About 1 in 10,000 apparently.

According to Matt Asen, the owner of Timbers Restaurant & Fish Market, something pretty unusual happened recently to oyster bar “master shucker” Luke Timmons.

“After shucking literally thousands of oysters over the past couple of years, Luke found one with a pearl inside still attached to the shell,” said Asen. “And that’s only the second one I’ve ever heard about in my 40 years in the restaurant business.”

Timmons, pictured above, cracked open the Cedar Key oyster to reveal the shiny mollusk gem, which measured nearly one-half inch across.

So how rare is it to find a naturally produced pearl inside of an oyster shell?

Only one in about 10,000 wild oysters will yield a pearl. Of those, only a small percentage achieve the size, shape and color desirable to the jewelry industry.

Next time you’re at Timbers, take a peek at the rare oyster/pearl pair that is now on display at the restaurant, located at 703 Tarpon Bay Road on Sanibel.

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