deprive her of a social life. Despite this, she manages the Krusty Krab when Mr. Krabs cannot, and fills in for other employees when needed. She will inherit the restaurant and her father's fortune when she grows older. Being a sperm whale, Pearl has the largest brain of any Bikini Bottom resident and is gifted in math. Mr. Krabs has tried to use this to his own advantage and wants Pearl to eventually become a bookkeeper for his restaurant. Pearl's favorite activities are socializing at the Bikini Bottom Mall and using her father's credit card to buy anything that is totally "coral" (Bikini Bottom slang for "cool"). Mr. Krabs disapproves of Pearl's prodigious spending, but nonetheless pays for her items to avoid disappointing his daughter. Pearl is employed as an assistant at Grandma's Apron, a store for elderly residents on the ground floor of the shopping center. Beatrice, her boss at Grandma's Apron, is voiced by actress Betty White. Fictional origin The disparity in species between Pearl and her father has never been explained directly in an episode, but merchandise makers and production crew members have stated that Mr. Krabs was once married to a whale who gave birth to Pearl. A trivia book penned by former SpongeBob writer David Fain in 2000 states that Pearl "takes after her mother," implying that she is the biological offspring of Mr. Krabs and a whale. According to creative director Vincent Waller, Stephen Hillenburg received many letters requesting a Pearl origin story, but was still "very much against solving [the] mystery" of how she joined the Krabs family. A step outline for an episode focusing on her origin was written and started early development stages, but the episode has been shelved indefinitely because of Hillenburg's disapproval. Pearl's name, and the decision to portray her as motherless, were an homage to the phrase mother-of-pearl, which refers to the inner layer of some sea-dwelling mollusk shells. Mr. Krabs uses this phrase when he is startled, in a similar vein to "Mother of God," as a reference to the absence of Pearl's mother. His use of the phrase only when he is dismayed or shocked has led some viewers to believe something tragic happened to Mrs. Krabs. At Dragon Con in 2016, Lori Alan and Rodger Bumpass addressed Pearl's origins as their characters Pearl and Squidward. In the skit, Squidward asks Pearl if she is adopted.