This morning I stumbled across a series of marvelous photographs by Kamran Jebreili of the Associated Press documenting the cultivation of pearls in the Ras al-Khaimah lagoon in the United Arab Emirates.

The pearl farm is a collaboration between Japanese traders and the UAE. The region had been a major source of natural pearls but was fished out in the early 20th century. The collaboration is an attempt to revive the industry.

I took a little time and developed a slide show of these photographs. If you are interested in pearl cultivation–and pearl and bead stringers are-you’ll be fascinated by these wonderful photographs.