Turning my attention from a single, obscure genus with 40 or so species to an entire, globe-spanning phylum containing hundreds of thousands of motley creatures was, perhaps, a bold move. Writing about seashells and molluscs has been an altogether different experience compared to exploring the world of seahorses and luckily a lot of wonderful people have been there to help me navigate these broad, rambling reaches of the animal kingdom.
I am deeply grateful to all the researchers who have shared with me their molluscan enthusiasms and ideas, answered my questions and helped me make fewer mistakes than I would have on my own (any slip-ups that are still in the book are entirely down to me). Thank you to Philippe Bouchet, Martin Smith, Reuben Clements, Thor-Seng Liew, Bard Ermentrout, George Oster, Masaki Hoso, Bisserka Gaydarska, Dan Harries, Philine zu Ermgassen, Piero Addis, Vicky Peck, Nina Bednaršek, Gareth Lawson, Julian Finn, Ken McNamara and Baldomero Olivera.
It was a great honour to be granted a Roger Deakin award for this book from the Authors’ Foundation at the Society of Authors. This gave me a link to one of my favourite and much-missed nature writers and allowed me to carry out a series of research trips. My hunt for sea-silk in Sardinia would not have been possible, or nearly as much fun, if it weren’t for Alessandro Spiga and Silvia Messori, who so warmly welcomed me into their home, took me snorkelling to see Noble Pen Shells and introduced me to Chiara Vigo. Thank you also to Annelise Hagan and Eleonora Manca for putting me in touch with the people of Sant’Antioco, to Rebecca Lewis for coming along on our adventure and translating for me, and to Chiara for showing me her work. My sea-silk story would have been impossible without the kindness and knowledge of Felicitas Maeder, especially for introducing me to the people at Archeotur in Sant’Antioco. My thanks in particular go to Ignazio Marrocu, Giustino Argiolas and Patrizia Zara, and of course to Giuseppina and Assuntina Pes for inviting me into their home and demonstrating their sea-silk skills.
I am hugely grateful to Ulf Riebesell for inviting me to join him in Gran Canaria, and to the rest of the BIOACID team who kindly took me out to Gando Bay to see the KOSMOS mesocosms and let me snoop around their labs. A very special thanks goes to Silke Lischka for so graciously helping me find sea butterflies and sharing her immense enthusiasm for these tiny creatures when she really should have been sleeping and recovering from the gruelling research schedule.
In the UK, a big thank you to fellow Triton fan Andy Woolmer for showing me around the Mumbles, and for all his insights into oysters, whelks, cockles, mussels and the rest (and for persuading me to try winkles for the first time). Thank you to Jon Ablett for showing me behind the scenes at London’s Natural History Museum, and to Peter Dance for our discussions, beginning several years ago, about Hugh Cuming, for sharing his Cuming archive with me, and for treating me to the best Thai clams I’ve ever tasted. A warm thank you to Fatou Janha and all the women of the TRY Oyster Women’s Association in The Gambia. If you visit The Gambia, make sure you try the oysters.
This book wouldn’t have happened without Jim Martin at Bloomsbury, who has been the ideal combination of editor and molluscan co-conspirator. Many thanks to him for indulging and sharing my shelly whims, and for being so utterly selfless in the face of many edible molluscs. Our journey to the book’s cover and illustrations began when I spotted a beautiful drawing of an argonaut on Aaron John Gregory’s website. When I discovered that Aaron is not only a talented artist but also as much of a marine geek as me, I instantly knew that he was our man. A huge thank you to Aaron for his immense patience and hard work, and for so brilliantly bringing the molluscs to life.
Lastly I want to thank all my dear friends and family who have cheered me on through my seashell adventures, who have read my words, sat through all the shell stories, and in many ways kept me going. My love and gratitude go to you all, and in particular to Anna Petherick, Riamsara Kuyakanon Knapp, Eric Drury, Matthew Wilkinson (whose book on animal locomotion was being written at the same time as this one), Ria and Jake Snaddon (plus baby Snaddon who will arrive in the world shortly before this book does, and who I look forward to showing seashells in the years ahead), Peter Wothers, Umut Dursun, Conor Jamieson, Liam Drew, Joshua Drew, Drew Bednarski and Meghan Strong, Kate Lash (my official geochemistry consultant), and finally my parents, Di and Tom Hendry, my mum especially for coming up with the book’s inspired subtitle, and my dad for reading so much of the manuscript when he should have been working on his Ph.D. And Ivan, my constant companion in life and words, who calls me up on my smutty jokes, finds ways to help me tell my stories, and always makes things better.