About us

What are sunrise shells? Where do they come from? Why are there so many different colors? If you are looking for answers to some of these questions then you’ve washed up to the right place. This is a site dedicated completely to sunrise shells. The people working for SunriseShells have one thing in common. We all love these little scallops.

Sunrise Shells have become quite popular outside the state of Hawaii in the past 5-10 years, and that’s just great for the most part. Everyone should be able to enjoy the beauty of these ocean gems. We love to see others wearing their shells and showing them off. And, it’s a great conversation starter. ”Wow!” or “Did you find that one?” People are so captivated by their diverse colors and how rare they are that it has become quite a business making and selling sunrise shell jewelry, or even the shells themselves.

It has become so popular, that now advanced scuba divers with enough experience have been diving to depths over 100ft just to find these rare little scallops. Most divers are finding dead shells. They are usually coated with barnacles and calcium deposits which accumulates after the animal is gone. But, the prize for many divers is when they come across the living animal. With its footing holding on tight to a reef structure far below the oceans surface, there’s nowhere for these little guys to hide. If its natural predators don’t get to them first, it’s a good day for the scuba divers.

When the animals that live within the scallops still inhibit the shell, the animal keeps its shell clean. So usually, it won’t have all the calcium deposits and other things which are difficult to clean off of the shell on it. That means, when the animal dies off and the shell remains it becomes what shell collectors refer to as a “Perfect Specimen”. These so called perfect specimens obviously are much more rich with color and being clean to perfection make them much more valuable and desirable by many.

What people aren’t thinking about when they are purchasing shells taken alive, is how many more years until the last sunrise shell washes up onto a beach somewhere.

That is why the people here at SunriseShells are asking people to get involved. To stop the depletion of this rare Hawaiian scallop. The Sunrise Shell.