Found an Ab!!

Poking around this weekend in the low-low tide and the Mrs found this mythical creature and its bodyguard just under.
Left 'em untouched, SUPER stoked.

Nice find
Great pic
I find more blacks in my neighborhood

That situation presents a neat opportunity.  Find a piece of kelp nearby and stroke it like a feather across the mouth end of the abalone (nearest to the newest hole).  Unless the animal is in defense mode from being handled, it should lift up and 'grab' the kelp and eat it!

Another note on the current state of abalone along the northern California coast:  the urchin proliferation has caused many larger abalone to make a 'beach run'.  They are getting out of the surf zone due to the lack of food, and it's often the case that going into the tidal zone is the only place they can find something to eat.  In the past five years, I've heard several people comment on this phenomenon, often thinking that the presence of abalone where they can be seen must mean that they're doing well and that there are many of them.  This is almost never the case, and the abalone that are seen are often getting desperate - hence their willingness to make themselves more vulnerable and visible.  I'm not saying that either of the photos here represent such a situation, but I do want people to know that abalone being high and dry (like right out in the open on vertical walls above the tidepools) is a sign of their distress.

Here's another tidbit:  much is happening in terms of people removing urchins due to their overpopulation and the formation of 'urchin barrens'.  I would warn that removing EVERY urchin where there are abalone present is a potential detriment to the abs.  One urchin next to an abalone can 'catch' kelp in the current, and then both animals will eat it.  No urchins at all around an abalone can make it harder for an abalone to feed.  Symbiotic relationships are powerful stuff, but too many urchins is one of the most tragic occurrences along our coastline. 

Cool find!

Good info, Eric. Be interesting to know what an ideal ratio of this r chin to Abs might look like

I’ve been seeing large numbers of individuals in tidepool zones for some time - where there never were historically

I attributed it to lack of forage in deeper zones. It’s cool to see em, but frightening due to cause