Favoritos de dolfindave

Youngish male specimen seen hunting and eating at least ten octopus (O. bimaculoides & possibly O. rubescens).

Male identified by formation of sagittal crest; age identified by lack of black staining on teeth.
Go With Postal 2023

It is just too bad that the imbalance in the Purple Sea Urchin population has caused a decimation in the Bull Kelp forest, which in turn has caused a great reduction in the Red Abalone population, such that the Abalone season in California has to be CLOSED until at least 2026 (and probably longer).
My brother Bob and I had so much fun in our twenties free diving for Abs (1975 - 1985) just minutes from our home in northern San Mateo County (1957 - 1980). On an average day, we could generally see our flippers, so maybe 5 feet of water visibility, which was kinda claustrophobic and tough to safely keep track of each other ....... but getting to frequently eat fresh abalone and crabs and fish was wonderful ..... and we made LOTs of friends quickly on many of our CSU-SF Geology field trips when we usually brought and cooked way more abalone than the two of us could eat.
I hope that many more people can enjoy this foodie experience in the future California.

Tilden Regional Park, near Jewel Lake. First photo shows a female at her burrow opening; second photo shows the "bottom" portion of an excavated burrow (different from the one in the first photo). The dirt was pretty firm and I was able to dig out a good-sized chunk containing the burrow. After carefully scraping away about half of the dirt, I managed to reveal a longitudinal section of the bottom portion of the burrow. I placed the female at the bottom of the burrow where I had found her and took the picture.