By Kevin Shereves
kevin@caymannetnews.com

The tradition of Conch Shell blowing is alive and well in the Cayman Islands according to Deal Ebanks, the official conch Shell blower for the National Museum of the Cayman Islands.

Mr Ebanks proudly takes his post in front of the National Museum every Mondays thru Thursdays at 9:00am to blow the conch shell. It is done to symbolize the opening of the Museum and the raising of the flags.

“I blow three medium to long blows to let everybody know that it is 9:00am. I usually continue blowing the conch shell for about fifteen minutes and will blow at random to keep the noise level out there. Once a person hears the sound it gives them a sense of direction and it also helps to divert traffic into the museum,” shares Mr Ebanks.

Mr Ebanks has an inventory of conch shells that he uses and he is able to create a wide variety of sounds out of it. “Historically, the tradition of conch shell blowing was used as a means of communication. Seamen arriving home with their catch would blow their conch shells to alert residents of the type of catch they were bringing in.”

Mr Ebanks spoke passionately about Cayman’s Seafaring history, he adds, “Conch shell blowing brings back memories. As a child I remember seeing the boats come in and be anchored out in West Bay and the sea men would come home with turtle, and a variety of fish after being at sea for weeks. Sadly some of them lost their lives and never returned home”.

The Ocean is vast but seamen would navigate back home by following the stars while ranging for Turtle and other catch. “My grandfather, a seaman would tell us about how they would navigate at night by pointing out the constellations. They would be often gone for six weeks at a time surviving on their own instincts while hunting turtle”.

Mr Ebanks described the process of creating a desired sound out of the conch shell. “To make a conch shell horn you need to cut the tip of the shell off exposing the circles on the top end and then you must knock out the centre piece to allow airflow through the conch shell when blowing, which provides more room for vibration producing lower or higher pitches depending on the size of the shell.”

A proud Caymanian, Mr Ebanks believes that the tradition of conch shell blowing is important to the cultural heritage of the Cayman Islands as a seafaring nation. He adds, “My job is to remind people about our roots and history. And we at the Museum are going to keep the tradition of conch shell blowing alive in the Cayman Islands”.