October Meeting
We gathered at the Auckland Museum for a meeting hosted by the Marine Invertebrates Curator, Wilma Blom.

Heather welcomed the usual suspects, and opened with a somewhat sombre discussion on the future of the club.
Following her note in last month's newsletter we have received some suggestions for changes to the running of the club, but few of these addressed the real issue of a lack of volunteers for the key duties. Currently we have no-one to take over the role of Club President next year, and no-one to take over Peter's newsletter and meeting facilitation duties.
However, the thinking has produced some radical suggestions on how we could function differently next year. Those ideas focus on making the club less formal, and reducing the need for the monthly duties. IE. we could reduce the number of meetings per year to one or two, and make better use of our existing website as the centre of our discussions and communications. As a result of this transformation there would no longer be a need for the monthly newsletters, or for an annual subscription.
This subject will be at the top of the agenda at our AGM on December 9th.

Next we discussed ocean acidification, as reported a few days earlier at ... www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=11340828.
In summary - scientists have reported that the sea's acidity level has risen 26 per cent in the last 200 years, and that this has already started impacting some marine life. Further increases will have damaging consequences for shellfish, corals and other calcium-making organisms.
Some of us mentioned our own observations of recent environmental changes - presumably due to global warming and an increase in oceanic acidity.
So collect them while you can - seashells may not be around in future!!

... and it's for that reason that large historic collections like the Drier collection are of such high scientific value.
As mentioned in the September newsletter, the Drier collection was recently transported from the Museum of Vancouver in Canada. It has now been treated for pests, and is ready for integration into the Auckland Museum collection. It will provide a very useful benchmark record of what species (as well as their quantities) were at specific localities in NZ about 100 years ago.
Wilma kindly let us explore the contents of three of its many large unopened boxes. Attendees were also keen to browse some of the Museum's extensive shell collection.

Next Meeting – Tuesday 11th November
Epsom Community Centre, 202 Gillies Avenue, Epsom at 7:30pm (doors open at 7pm). Supper provided.

Anna Berthelsen, a PhD student at the Leigh Marine Laboratory, will be our guest speaker.
Her topic will be ... the ability of small grazing crustaceans (and lack of ability of grazing gastropods) to control the growth of epiphytic algae on coralline algal turf.

Attendees are asked to bring in a selection of rocky shore Gastropods for display.

Poirieria Magazine
Thanks to a recent rush of contributions we hope to publish Volume 38 in December. Any additional items for this will be required by 21/November.

We welcome contributions to our club magazine "Poirieria". Anything related to shells or collecting would be greatly appreciated - Eg. shelling trips/finds, personal observations/tips, scientific research, historic anecdotes, a notable washup, etc.
Please email articles to Peter Poortman at petermwp@gmail.com, or post to 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.

New Zealand Shell Show 2015
This will be held on 16-18/January/2015 at the Petone Club in Udy Street, Petone, Lower Hutt.

Shell Shows are the premiere events of our hobby, and they are held in NZ only once every two years.
They are an opportunity to get together with like-minded people and marvel at an amazing range of shell displays. Novice collectors are especially encouraged to participate, with a number of classes available for you. Don't miss out on what promises to be a very enjoyable weekend!

Show classes, rules & registration form, and transport & accommodation information are now available from the Wellington Shell Club website at www.wellingtonshellclub.org.nz.

For Sale
4 x shell storage/display units as follows ...
1. 840 mm wide, 600mm deep, 700mm high unit with 5 trays with framed glass lids. Painted black. Excellent for storage and for shell displays! ($100 or near offer)
2. Exactly the same as No 1 ($100 or near offer.)
3. The same size as No 1 but no glass lids. ($60 or near offer)
4. 490mm wide, 600mm deep, 700mm high. 5 trays, no glass lids. Also painted black and excellent for storage and displays. ($50 or near offer.)
Excellent offer because they cost a heap more to build!
Please contact Heather Smith on 5240291 or 021792256 or heathertwinsmith@gmail.com if you are interested.

Wanted to Buy
The following NZ collected shells ...
. Bursa verrucosa
. Tutufa bufo
. Epitonium bucknilli (and/or Acirsa cookiana)
. NZ Turrid shells.
Please contact Luen Jones on 8345195 or wildhoney@slingshot.co.nz.

Club Library
We have an extensive collection of books, magazines, and scientific publications available, as well as a biological microscope.

Other News
. Our recent shell auction was a great success - all the buyers were happy and all the sellers were happy too. These auctions are probably the most cost-effective way to collect shells, and at the very least they provide hours of interesting browsing. It is also a fun way to catch up with our many friends from outside Auckland. As usual our auctioneer, Martin Walker, did an outstanding job - keeping us well entertained and informed!

. Items of interest for the monthly newsletter are always welcome - email to petermwp@gmail.com, or post to Peter Poortman, 26 Pendlebury Street, Green Bay, Auckland 0604.

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