The populations of all abalone along the California coast have plummeted in the last century. Within the next decade, when the last remaining adult White Abalone in the wild die, that species will be gone from our waters forever.
In a last ditch effort to save the species, Scripps Institution’s Jennifer Hofmeister has been enlisted to research the habits of one of the abalone’s greatest predatory threats – the octopus.
Using novel tracking techniques she strives to understand the movement and feeding behavior of these secretive and formidable creatures, whether they can discover and exploit new food sources, whether they return to an area after translocation, and their preferred habitats and movements.
Hopefully, this better understanding will help the recovery effort protect plantings of juvenile Abalone so they can gain a foothold in the wild once again.