Tidepool Abalone

Damn! Very cool.
I hope no one poaches them.

What a great sight to see. I think I'm going to throw on the wetsuit sometime this year to check out the underwater scenery. I miss those days of abalone diving.

Like these. 

As far as poaching. They will.  This is the Palms near San Pedro in the 30s and 40s. Or near Palos Verdes if you would. Used to fish there as a kid.  I worked on a boat with fish and game planting tagged Abalone there. Within 2 day poachers had them in there bucket. Tags on them and all. So we went from Tide pools to deeper areas to release them. Heck I remember friends diving them commercially in the 70s 90.00 a dozen for reds greens and pinks 65.00. Black abs 50 and under.

Star fish eat urchins. Urchins outcompete abalone for kelp. More starfish =more abalone. It took a while, but the disease resistant starfish are finally coming back. I have hope.

Star fish eat urchins. Urchins outcompete abalone for kelp. More starfish =more abalone. It took a while, but the disease resistant starfish are finally coming back. I have hope.

For sure saw more starfish down here in Sonoma this year.  Noticed several huge ones too, maybe they are more resistant?

Star fish eat urchins. Urchins outcompete abalone for kelp. More starfish =more abalone. It took a while, but the disease resistant starfish are finally coming back. I have hope.

Here’s proof!
Snagged this last lear👍
Scotty

Remember. The abalone have been moving back into the shallows for 5 years now. Looking for other seaweed and grasses after heavy comp from the urchins. That's why the rock pickers were so successful the last year the season was open.

Remember. The abalone have been moving back into the shallows for 5 years now. Looking for other seaweed and grasses after heavy comp from the urchins. That's why the rock pickers were so successful the last year the season was open.

This is the point to focus on.  I too witnessed abs moving toward the beach/tidepools the last years of abbing, and it appeared to be a direct result of decimation of the kelp beds just past the surf zone.

Urchin barrens aren't known to subside in the short term - may take decades or centuries as opposed to years.

I hope there are efforts underway to breed sea stars like there are to reduce urchin numbers in key areas.

THEY find me

Remember. The abalone have been moving back into the shallows for 5 years now. Looking for other seaweed and grasses after heavy comp from the urchins. That's why the rock pickers were so successful the last year the season was open.

^^^  This.  Seeing tons of abalone in the shallows isn't necessarily a good sign.  There's no kelp in deeper waters.  Everything in Sonoma Co at least is an urchin wasteland, except Sea Ranch.

Raacerx wrote:

Seeing tons of abalone in the shallows isn't necessarily a good sign. There's no kelp in deeper waters.

Seeing the abalone in the shallows is an improvement versus just mounds of empty shells littering the same real estate which is how it was last year in the same place. In the area where the first post picture was taken, there is kelp coming back in the intertidal zone and offshore. It is super encouraging. There were also a good smattering of sea stars which is reported to help curtail the urchins.

https://phys.org/news/2021-03-sea-otters-remnants-healthy-kelp.html

This was a good read I came across a few weeks back that helped me understand the complexities of the situation.

On minus tides I occasionally find an abalone in shallow pools, always like to give them a little snack

Thanks for sharing your great findings.   Love to see they are bouncing back.