The Australian pearl farms stretch along more than two and a half thousand kilometres of mostly uninhabited coastline - from the Cobourg Peninsula to the north east of Darwin to Dampier in Western Australia. As a comparison, this distance is around the same as from London to Moscow.
These isolated bays were chosen for the protection they provide from seasonal cyclones and, most importantly, the quality of their pristine waters. The rare giant Pinctada Maxima oysters that produce South Sea cultured pearls are solitary and sensitive creatures. In waters untouched by pollution, the oysters thrive in a rich soup of microscopic plankton.
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