Wellington Shell Club

The Wellington Shell Club is inclusive.  We are open to those at any level of interest in shell collecting (marine and terrestrial), conchology or malacology generally.  Adults and children interested in shells (both marine & terrestrial) from New Zealand or overseas are invited to join the club.

Monthly meetings are usually held at a club member's private home in the greater Wellington region.  Private addresses  are not listed on this website, however, details are provided in the club monthly newsletter.  Addresses are also available on the club contact list updated 6 monthly and distributed to members.   Visitors and prospective members are welcome to attend our meetings and events. Meetings usually have a theme, such as a particular shell family or a collecting location, and may include a presentation by a member or an invited scientific expert. Members are also encouraged to bring along recent finds of interest, and experienced collectors are often able to help identify unknown specimens.

If you would like to attend a meeting or event, please e-mail us for further information.

The club also organises occasional field trips, mainly within the Wellington region, with some trips to other parts of New Zealand.

In addition, the club publishes a monthly newsletter and an annual journal, Cookia.

We Are Interested in Acquiring Shells With Scientific Data

Do you have a shell, shells or a shell collection with good data or labels?  The Wellington Shell Club may be interested in acquisition by donation or purchase. 

We are particularly interested in accurately identified shells with data that includes the collection site and a collection date. Anything offered without some or all of this essential information is usually of no scientific value.

New Zealand shells are preferred to foreign shells. Any offerings must be good condition and not broken, chipped, faded, bleached or beach worn.  

If you have shells in good condition with collection data for donation or sale to the Wellington Shell Club please contact us for an initial discussion.

Publications

In accordance with our policy of making copies of Cookia freely available on this website when they are 2 years old Cookia Vol 34, November 2022 is now available on the Publications page. 

Shell Collecting Locations

Occasional enquiries are received about good shell collecting locations in New Zealand.  Most of this information can be found by browsing through the Cookia magazines on the Publications page of this website, in particular:

ZG Vol 17, pp 11-13, South Island Collecting Locations 

ZK Vol 21, pp 6 -15, New Zealand Shell Collecting Adventure 

ZN Vol 24, pp 19-20, Good Shell Collecting Locations. 

In addition, the reference book New Zealand Seashells has detailed information on shell collecting locations. The authors have generously consented to publication of the location map here.  Limited editions of the book remain available upon enquiries to the authors. 

Contact Us

Club Secretary email address:  carolynkrebs20@gmail.com

Club Secretary postal address:

Wellington Shell Club

c/- 12B Princeton Rd

Raumati Beach 5032

NEW ZEALAND

If you have any queries about New Zealand or foreign shells or a general shell related inquiry please e-mail us or use the postal address listed above.

Facebook

Check out the Wellington Shell Club on Facebook

Subs & Financial Enquiries

All subscription (subs), financial, banking or other payments enquiries should be referred to the Club Treasurer .  

Subs payment details, including the bank account number, are available here. 

Website 

Comments, feedback and suggestions for improvements about the website should be directed to the  IT Officer .  

(page updated  March 2026)