Sailing has two kinds of pearls. The echo pearl is one of the combat uniques and is used to build the Fathom pearl facility, and the giant clam pearls are a set of 11 pearls you get from feeding a giant clam.
Echo pearls have several sources
Source | Rate |
|---|---|
Orca | 1/70 |
Dolphin | 1/1,200 |
Opulent salvage (Merchant shipwreck, level 87) | 1/400 per salvage sorted |
Plundered salvage (Pirate shipwreck, level 64) | 1/600 per salvage sorted |
A big or better pearl from a giant clam | 1/25 |
Sea trophy from a large or huge courier task | 10% of sea trophies (1/600 per large task, 1/300 per huge task) |
Orcas are by far the fastest way to get an echo pearl. The other sources are there so you can still get one if you would rather skill.
Giant clams turn an item into a pearl
Giant clams show up as an ocean encounter from Sailing level 40. Each player has their own clam, and it remembers what you gave it between encounters. Feed it a tradeable item that can be high alched (noted items work, it takes one off the stack), then wait at least an hour. The next time you meet a giant clam it will offer you a pearl, and taking the pearl gives you 15 times your Sailing level in experience. The hour counts while you are logged out as well.
The pearl you get depends on the high alchemy value of the item you fed it, as shown below. This means that feeding it something valuable is the only way to get the higher pearls.
Pearl | High alch value of the item fed |
|---|---|
Tiny pearl | Under 200 |
Small pearl | 200+ |
Shiny pearl | 1,000+ |
Bright pearl | 2,000+ |
Big pearl | 5,000+ |
Huge pearl | 10,000+ |
Enormous pearl | 20,000+ |
Shimmering pearl | 50,000+ |
Glistening pearl | 100,000+ |
Brilliant pearl | 200,000+ |
Radiant pearl | 500,000+ |
Each pearl is added to the Ocean Encounters page of the collection log, and any pearl from big up also has a 1/25 chance of coming with an echo pearl.