The day dawns bright and clear, unexpectedly but thankfully so. On a mid-April morning in Ventura, my dive buddy, Huntley, and I are taking a bit of a gamble by boarding the Spectre, a day-trip passenger dive vessel. We are headed, finally, to Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary (CINMS) for a day of diving in what was historically known as prime abalone territory.
I’ve been conducting research for over a year at this point to inform an upcoming book about California’s abalone (Haliotis spp), their habitats, and the science that supports them, but had yet to literally dive into these waters as part of my work. This work is a partnership with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, the education & outreach staff at CINMS, and abalone scientists and managers at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Historically, all seven abalone species native to California lived in the waters surrounding the Channel Islands. The geographic ranges of California’s seven abalone species overlap in the Southern California Bight, with Point Conception marking the northern boundary of the range for white, pink, and green abalone, and the other species extending south at least to the border with Baja California. In the context of abalone harvesting, this region was once the promised land. A significant portion of the commercial landings of white, pink, green, and black abalone post-1950 were picked from the waters around the Islands.
Diving into Abalone Habitat: Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary - National Marine Sanctuary Foundation
I’ve been conducting research for over a year at this point to inform an upcoming book about California’s abalone (Haliotis spp), their habitats, and the science that supports them, but had yet to literally dive into these waters as part of my work. This work is a partnership with the National Marine Sanctuary Foundation, the education & outreach staff at CINMS, and abalone scientists and managers at the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Historically, all seven abalone species native to California lived in the waters surrounding the Channel Islands. The geographic ranges of California’s seven abalone species overlap in the Southern California Bight, with Point Conception marking the northern boundary of the range for white, pink, and green abalone, and the other species extending south at least to the border with Baja California. In the context of abalone harvesting, this region was once the promised land. A significant portion of the commercial landings of white, pink, green, and black abalone post-1950 were picked from the waters around the Islands.
Diving into Abalone Habitat: Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary - National Marine Sanctuary Foundation