26 pearls found in one oyster

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanese restaurant owner Raymond Salha and his wife were having oysters for lunch when she made a stunning discovery — a cluster of 26 pearls inside an oyster on her plate.

The find 10 days ago at his Al-Fanar Restaurant in the southern port city of Tyre was a "total surprise," Salha said Wednesday.

It was one of about 200 oysters they had cooked that day at the restaurant. The couple immediately believed the pearls were valuable, so Salha called the city's maritime museum, which sent a team that took the oyster and the pearls away for testing.

A few days later, the oyster was preserved and returned by the museum, along with the pearls. Salha plans to keep it on display at his restaurant.

Salha and his wife had never seen anything like this find. Once, long ago, they found a single pearl while opening an oyster.

Although the pearls are not believed to be worth a lot of money, Salha says their importance is in the sheer number found inside a single shell.