Searching for ab pearls

I found a pearl today.  Nothing worth writing home about -- It's very small (1/4" diameter) and yellow in color.  Even my wife does not want it.  But finding the pearl is pretty exciting. 

I'm wondering how everyone searches for ab pearls.  Do you just feel by touching the outside of the pouch, or do you empty out the content and sift through it like panning for gold?

And what is that dark green stuff that's inside the pouch??  Is it what I suspect it is?

I got one the size of a rice kernal.. and the green stuff is seaweed, if I am not wrong.

The pearls occur along the outer skin of the 'pouch' - that's the gonad!  Often, the pearls occur where the gonad connects with the rest of the entrails - the transition area.  I don't break it open and sift through - I just inspect the outer skin and transition area.

yes pearls can be found on the out side of the ab along the gonad area typically those will be your round Bebe size pearls. To find the nice big tooth looking ones you have to go threw the gonad cut it open and feel around. all the green stuff is sea weed, heck I have heard the new thing in SF at the beauty salons is to use abalone guts for sea weed facials !
here are some ab pearl pics from my friend Erick Anderson web site at abalone ten divers.

I've sifted through more (ab) gonads than I can count and never found squat. So I stopped. Probably I've left some go by I guess. Dang that jewelry is sweet!