Contadora was the island where the Spanish counted the pearls that were
harvested from the other islands in the archipelago, hence the name of the
island. Contadora in Spanish means "The one that counts." The islands
produced pearls of many colors and sizes, and during the many years when pearls
were harvested from the waters around the islands, the natives would converge
to Contadora to count their pearls and sell them to the Spaniards. Early last
century there was an underwater epidemic which killed most of the pearl oysters,
reducing the production of pearls to a dribble.
In 1980, the Iranian shah, Mohammad
