Pearl shells leave the north-west coast and are traded inland, right across the country and as far as the southern coast. The shell is far more valuable than the pearl. Coastal people trade them for practical items like boomerangs, spears, or axe heads, or raw material like red ochre. For the Ngarluma-Yaburara people people at Murujuga, pearl shells are the scales from the sea serpent creator being. They’re often used in private ceremonies by specialist and have been traded and shared with specialists from nations across this land.