After being believed lost for almost 40 years, an 18th-century shell collection from Captain James Cook's third expedition has been restored to English Heritage after being retrieved from a skip in "nothing short of a miracle." For the first time in almost a century, the collection of more than 200 specimens—among which is an extinct species and many thought to have been returned from Cook's tragic expedition—will be put on public display. A retired scientist found the things in the trash that a university had thrown out.

Where Were These 'Shells' Until Now?

• Bridget Atkinson (1732–1814) was passionate about the collection, and documented about  Britain's importance in international trade and its colonial expansion in the late 18th century. She collected more than 1,200 shells from all around the world, although she never left Cumbria and rarely left Britain.
• John Clayton (1792–1890), her grandson, inherited the collection until these shells were auctioned in 1930 together with the Clayton estate.
• About 200 of the artifacts were loaned to Armstrong College's (now Newcastle University) zoology department after being on exhibit at Chesters Roman Fort and Museum in Northumberland.
• However, the shells were discarded during a university office purge in the 1980s.

It has recently been made public that they were saved from a skip by a passing professor named Doctor John Buchanan, despite initial fears that they had been lost forever. The Buchanan family has since given them to English Heritage, and they have been brought back to the museum to be reunited with the enormous clam that used to be the only surviving item in the collection. The family of Dr. Buchanan stated: "Our father worked at the Dove Marine Laboratory in Cullercoats as a marine biologist and senior professor from 1958 until his retirement. The shells were saved by him since he was a conservationist, and they were kept in our family's house for thirty-five years. ''We learned that the shells were a part of the Clayton Collection after our mother passed away. It gave us great pleasure to give the collection back to English Heritage so that future generations might appreciate it.'' ~  Doctor John Buchanan