Cook Islands black pearls are farmed in one of the most remote and beautiful parts of the world. On the atolls of Manihiki, Rakahanga and Tongareva (Penrhyn), pearl farming is the lifeblood of these communities with a combined population of around 1000 people. Black Pearls are named for the shell that they come from. 'Pinctada margaritifera' or the Black Lipped Mother of Pearl Shell is indigenous to the atolls of the Cook Islands and French Polynesia.