EPIC low tide shell hunting!

Another trip down to the coast for the February King Tides. We had some epic and rare finds. Come along and see.
If you want to learn even more about Abalone, here is an excellent little pocket book here*: amzn.to/3O9uIWh
And a full accounting of their biology, natural history, and current population and conservation efforts here*: amzn.to/3U1mvHp
And here are some great folks working toward abalone recovery:
Get Inspired Inc, a non-profit working to restore kelp forests, abalone, and pismo clam populations in SoCal: getinspiredinc.org/
UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab, working to breed and repopulate white abalone (the most critically-endangered subspecies): marinescience.ucdavis.edu/res...
Some aquaculture folks who working to farm abalone, which helps relieve pressure on the species but also helping to breed and raising stocks for repopulation.
culturedabalone.com/
www.montereyabalone.com
*This channel uses Amazon Affiliate Links

[@Raynestorm1968]

I would kill to live where you do and have the opportunity to just walk along the sea side. I couldn't care less if I found anything, just to be there near the ocean and have that gorgeous area to walk around. I hope you know how truly blessed you are. I live in a brown, dry, ugly, too hot or too cold climate in Canada......nowhere near the ocean......hell....nowhere near any water period. Those are stunning shells you found. Thank you for sharing your adventures.

[@Wild_California]

For sure, San Diego is an amazing place to live. In fact most of California is gorgeous and amazing. I’ll be doing a lot more ocean content in the coming months. Thanks for watching and I hope you’ll stick around for more.

[@douglasstemke2444]

The disease Alalone Viral Ganglioneuritis that causes the wasting away of the animal really has been devastating. Once the Back Abalone was abundant intertidally as late as the mid 1970s possibly 80s, now as you note finding a single broken shell is noteworthy. Hopefully resistant animals will repopulate the West Coast. I've visited and shelled California many times and only have one shell find myself, never seen a live one. New Zealand and Tasmania still have good populations of Abalone, I just hope the same thing doesn't happen there.