About the Pearls

Located in the middle of Sheapscot Bay, Maine lays an island called Whittum

Where it began

In 2022 Kevin McMahon, a professor at Providence College, was undergoing a rebuild of the one bedroom island cottage along with his two mates, Gary Richardson and Dan Bradford. While lunching on the beach he noticed a mesmerizing oyster shell much thicker than any he had ever seen throughout his decades of eating oysters. Gazing across the waters and noting the multiple ancient shell middens in both directions, he wondered if it were the local ice cold waters that created this artistic marvel. Further research established that yes, the colder the water, the thicker the shell. Whittum also enjoys high salinity levels often reaching into the 30’s parts per thousand. Another crucial piece is its positioning at the confluence of the Sasanoa River creates a raging two to four knot current twenty hours a day. All this plus sitting abreast of a gigantic naturally occurring underwater kelp bed creates an extraordinary merroir – the conditions that form a world class oyster experience.

What the Pearls Are
& What They Are Not

Whittum Island Pearls are vastly different from what you often see on an oyster menu these days. They will not “Have hints of lemon and can be paired with a light Chablis”. Instead, they are salty and authentic and hit you like that first gulp of an ocean wave did in your childhood. They are an Oyster Lover’s Oyster, and might best be avoided by newbies. They do go well with a strong IPA or a splash of Irish Whiskey. The shells often show bizarre scalloping which is a result of the final year roaming free on the bottom of a harsh ecosystem. Much as the glaciers scraped the landscape, these shells are scraped by Mother Nature herself. They do not look or taste like the oysters grown in the warm back bays of Massachusetts and the Chesapaeke. Think instead of that first taste of a Tequila Margarita with a hard salt rim that you had in your teens.