The world’s abalone are threatened, endangered or otherwise vulnerable in nearly every corner of the planet. While captive breeding efforts are underway for some species, these giant sea snails are notoriously difficult to spawn. If only we could wave a magic wand to know when abalone are ready to reproduce, without even touching them.
Once abundant, white abalone were critically overfished in the 1970s. With the remaining wild white abalone so far apart from one another that they were unable to reproduce successfully, experts determined that captive breeding and outplanting were the best ways to save the species. After early breeding efforts were hampered by disease, the program headquarters moved to UC Davis Bodega Marine Laboratory in 2011.
UC Davis project scientist Kristin Aquilino directs the Bodega Marine Laboratory's white abalone captive breeding program. In this video, she discusses the work she and her colleagues are doing to bring the endangered species back from the brink of extinction. This week marks the first time captive bred white abalone will be released to the ocean in hopes of saving the species.
A career dedicated to mollusks isn’t always easy. Sometimes progress can occur at a snail’s pace. But a team of scientists are close to reaching a significant milestone in their efforts to bring white abalone — a species of sea snail — back from the brink of extinction.
My job is to write about the wonders and challenges of our coast and oceans, but I’ll admit: Before this story, I had no idea what an abalone looked like...
The California coast once teemed with millions of white abalone. Overfishing, warming oceans and predators devastated the species. Almost all are gone. Now scientists are trying to save this mysterious sea snail.
Scientists are celebrating a population boom among endangered white abalone being raised at the UC Davis Bodega Marine Lab as they approach the day they can begin introducing captive-bred sea snails into their natural ocean habitat — perhaps later this year or next.
Millions of Eggs Bring Program 1 Step Closer to Saving Species
The Bodega Marine Laboratory’s white abalone program has millions of new additions following its most successful spawning ever at the University of California, Davis, facility. Three out of nine recently collected wild white abalone spawned last week, as did seven of 12 captive-bred white abalone. One wild female was particularly generous, producing 20.5 million eggs herself.
For the UC Davis College of Biological Sciences: A UC Davis alumna, Kristin Aquilino directs the Bodega Marine Laboratory's white abalone captive breeding program. In 2001, the marine snail was officially listed as endangered. Using captive breeding, Aquilino and colleagues hope to bring the species back from the brink of extinction.
