Ever Wonder Where Abalone Comes From?

[GAD]

This is an abalone:

 

[GGJaguar]

They're edible, too!

 

[Opsimath]

I really don't know that I would pick that up.

Where is its front?

 

[cupric]

Yes. And real mother of pearl is from oyster shells.

 

[GAD]

I really don't know that I would pick that up.

Where is its front?

Wherever it wants it to be.

 

[fronobulax]

The GIF in the OP won't display in Brave but will display in Edge. I know there are a couple of Brave users out there.

I had an abalone shell that someone gave me as a child, long before I had anything to do with guitars. So I knew they were some kind of shellfish but I had never seen one in action before. Thanks.

 

[Uke]

Here's a pic of one from my tool room (occupant has left the building long ago).

 

[davismanLV]

So no bottom shell on those? Just the top and then the bottom is a big foot for traveling?

 

[GGJaguar]

So no bottom shell on those?

Nope. They are a type of gastropod (i.e. - snail). Limpets and abalone have "flat" shells rather than coiled shells like regular snails (in a past lifetime I was an amateur malacologist and still have a shell collection boxed away).

 

[JohnW63]

I wonder why their shells are so pretty vs just plain?

 

[GGJaguar]

There are many species that have a pearl layer under their plain exterior. One family is turban shells. Below is a turban shell in its natural state and with the exterior layer removed revealing the mother-of-pearl.

 

[JohnW63]

Things you didn't know that get answered in a guitar forum.

 

[jp]

I've actually eaten abalone before. Since I was a kid, I don't remember what it tasted like, but I remember thinking it was delicious. My mom saved the shell, which ended up in our bathroom as a decorative holder for other shells. Pure savagery.

 

[powdog]

I used to dive for abalone when I lived in SoCal. They were overfished and now are heavily regulated. There are 7 species of abalone off the California coast and only Red Abalone can be taken. 7” minimum, 3 abs max, must be tagged on site.

They have a tough outer skin that must be peeled off. Most typically, the muscle is pounded with a meat hammer, breaded and deep fried. Pretty yummy. You can tell a family of abalone divers if there a shell soap dish in every bathroom.

 

[Canard]

We used to eat them frequently when I was a kid. I can't say I was overly fond of them. They, along with fish and other shellfish, were a cheap food source for the family.

They were then plentiful and easily harvested in the inter-tidal zone. There wasn't much of a commercial fishery then, and local harvesting for food did not put much of a dent in the population..

When Asian markets opened up, commercial fisheries became established with dive boats, and abalone were taken in large numbers from far below the inter-tidal zone. There were regulations (sort of) to protect the species but not much enforcement. Things got a bit wild-west/pirates-on-the-high-seas, and, of course, the population plummeted.

Things are much stricter now. But recovery of population numbers is proving to be slow.

People still harvest them illegally both for illegal sale and for personal consumption, and everyone thinks "I'm not part of the problem. It won't matter if I take a few or a few dozen or a few dozen dozens."

There have been some instances of native bands taking pot shots at dive boats (both commercial and recreational) to drive them off known abalone beds.

 

[Boneman]

That looks like something Gene Roddenberry would use for inspiration for his next alien character, looks like a sci-fi creepy crawler.

 

[RBSinTo]

In answer to the title of this thread, my understanding is that Abalone are indigenous to The Sea of Ugly Gastropods, off the Southern California coast.
RBSinTo

 

[davismanLV]

I remember some people telling me when I was younger that you had to harvest these and then scrape them out and then pound the hell out of them and then fry them and eat them. They didn't taste that good.... let 'em run free, as far as I'm concerned. Putting humans in charge of the planet is a bad idea.....

 

[davismanLV]

In answer to the title of this thread, my understanding is that Abalone are indigenous to The Sea of Ugly Gastropods, off the Southern California coast.
RBSinTo

And I just looked up Sand Crabs, because at the beach (in So. California) when the waves would come in they'd ride the surf and then burrow down quickly and we'd catch them!! So exciting for a kid. But then we'd put them back because we had no use for them. Come to find out... you can eat them!! Who knew??

 

[RBSinTo]

And I just looked up Sand Crabs, because at the beach (in So. California) when the waves would come in they'd ride the surf and then burrow down quickly and we'd catch them!! So exciting for a kid. But then we'd put them back because we had no use for them. Come to find out... you can eat them!! Who knew??

Apparently, they did. But kept it a secret.
They even had little Crab posters to warn each other.
"If anyone blabs, they'll eat us Crabs"
RBSinTo