#haliotis

Made a necklace for this Piranesi piece. Sea glass, mother-of-pearl, bronze elements.

Abalone Shell (Haliotis sp.) found at Moss Cove in Laguna Beach. We did not collect this (or anything we found) but this was a beautiful surprise (and my first time finding an abalone shell in the tide pools). This beach is considered a no-take Marine Protected Area; where taking, collecting, and disturbing marine life is prohibited (includes shells/rocks).

Haliotis discus

An abalone found in shallow subtidal waters off Japan and Korea in the north western Pacific Ocean.

(California) Abalone!

Made it so that the video doesn’t send you to Instagram, hehe…

Crustacea: Panulirus versicolor

During my free time on Woppa, I did some snorkelling. It was fucking scary, but fun. Without an underwater camera, I sadly couldn't take photos of the things I saw. BUT I did collect a handful of items off of the reef/sand (anything I took, I returned to the reef closest to shore).

The most impressive thing was this lobster tail. It seems all the good parts had been eaten, leaving behind this big ass tail. I consulted an ex-diver about the ID, apparently these things can go for thousands in high-end restaurants (the guy got 40 bucks for capturing a perfect one... middlemen make all the money). I know lobsters are the cockroaches of the ocean, but I think they're really cool.

Gastropoda: Haliotis sp.

The second thing I picked up was this abalone shell (also used as food lol). The interior of these shells is really shiny when polished. I've never come across one of these snails before, so I had to pick it up.

Here's a short list of the other things I saw but couldn't photograph: (what I remember clearly, lots of fish I couldn't ID)

Blackeye Thicklip

Goldstripe Butterflyfish

Giant Clams

The large variety of coral (mostly red)

School of pipefish (I think) found near shore

I wouldn't mind doing snorkelling in the future, though I'm certainly going to teach myself how to do it better lol. I will keep an eye for sharks too. This was a popular tourist diving spot, but even still, you've gotta be careful.

AKA Rainbow Abalone.

Aoteoroa's largest abalone.

Pāua poaching is a problem in New Zealand with many thousands being taken illegally, often undersized. Legally, no single person may have more than 20 shells in their possession or more than 2.5 kg of shucked meat. It is also illegal to dive for pāua using scuba equipment. Serious convictions have lead to seizure of diving gear, boats, and motor vehicles as well as large fines and in rare cases, imprisonment. So whoever dropped this one on the beach was being annoyingly wasteful.

The iridescent shell is prized as a cultural treasure, and captive Pāua can be used to grow Pāua pearls around artificial nuclei.