Woman Bites Down On $3,000 Purple Pearl in Clam Shell

— -- A Virginia Beach woman who picked up a couple bags of clams from a seafood shack was shocked when she discovered a rare, purple pearl inside one of the clam shells.

"I bit down on it and I pulled it out and said, 'Look at this,'" Kathleen Morelli told the Delmarva Daily Times.

She bought the clams at the Great Machipongo Clam Shack in Nassawadox, according to the newspaper.

Morelli thought the pearl was pretty, but didn't think much of it until her husband started researching.

"From what I've read, one in 5,000 clams will grow a pearl," Joe Morelli told the Delmarva Daily Times. He said his wife's pearl could fetch $3,000.

"Which is not bad for a $15 bag of clams," Kathleen Morelli said.