We all are aware of the threats to Salish Sea orca populations and the probable future extinction of that iconic animal, but there’s another creature in trouble around here, the Pinto abalone. The Pinto is also called the northern abalone because it’s the only abalone in the northwest. This large sea snail roams rocky reefs – or at least used to. The Pinto is about fist-sized but it never was abundant enough to have a commercial fishery for it. Maybe not food for us, but they are prey for many others. Fish, octopus, crabs, sea stars and otters favor them, and, humans did too before they were put off limits in 1994. Now, 25 years later, Pinto populations have plummeted to a small fraction of what they were. It’s thought there are now not enough of these abalones remaining for them to successfully breed – and so hatchery programs have been setup in several places. The Marine Science Center in Port Townsend is one, the NOAA Mukilteo Research Station is another.

 

Abalones tend to live in colonies on rocky reef habitats. The Pinto prefers fairly shallow waters that makes them particularly vulnerable to preditors. Abalones are ‘scrubbers’, meaning they roam their rocky homes grazing on algae. This allows new organisms to grow and the Pinto keeps a reef tidy and fresh. At one time, a typical rocky reef would have hundreds of abalones, all moving around like big computer mice. They are broadcast spawners, meaning the female spews out its collection of progeny to the sea and then lets nature take its course – not a very evolved way to increase their numbers since spawn have almost no protection. It’s a receipe for species decline, and at this point, Pinto abalone probably won’t continue to exist without human help. They are considered functionally extinct here in the Salish Sea with a 97% population decline since 1992. Next time you’re tide-pooling it, think about the Pinto. Look for it under rock overhangs where it’s awaiting higher water to go back to work.

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