Island Guardian

Learn About The Pinto Abalone

ig_Abalone_paul_sim (92k image) (Paul Sim photo)

Friends of the San Juans Endangered Marine Species & Habitats Lecture Series continues with a presentation about the Pinto Abalone. The lecture will be on Thursday January 19 at the Grange in Friday Harbor. The lecture will begin at 7:00 pm and is free and open to the public.

The pinto (or northern) abalone is the smallest of the abalones. It occurs on shallow rocky substrate and feeds on algae. Very low population numbers have resulted in the pinto abalone's listing as a ‘species of concern' under federal, state and Canadian endangered species provisions.

San Juan County provides significant nearshore rocky habitat to the pinto abalone. Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife has ten research stations in the San Juan Islands which they have surveyed regularly for the past 13 years using divers. WDFW abalone expert Don Rothaus will provide an overview of abalone biology, the possible causes for population declines and the results of San Juan County research. He will also outline future research and recovery strategies for pinto abalone populations in Washington State.

Presenter Don Rothaus has been a biologist for the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for 17 years. The major emphasis of his current work is abalone. He also participates in research and management projects for geoducks, sea urchins and sea cucumbers and is the Diving Safety Officer for WDFW. This lecture was originally scheduled for October and was cancelled due to a medical emergency.

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Science Lecture 7:00 PM at Camp Orkila

On Tuesday, October 11, 2005, 7:00 PM at the Camp Orkila Marine-Salmon Center, Eugene Kozloff, Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington Department of Biology and an authority on the natural history of the Pacific Northwest, will give a photographic presentation and discuss "Symbiosis: Interesting Relationships Between Species." This is the first lecture of the 2005/06 season in Orcas Island's highly successful marine science lecture series. It is free to the public.

Dr. Kozloff is the author of several books including Seashore Life of the Northern Pacific Coast, Plants and Animals of the Pacific Northwest, Plants of the San Francisco Bay Region, and Plants of Western Oregon, Washington & British Columbia, among others. "Considered the patriarch of NW marine and botanical science by many, Dr. Kozloff is respected and beloved for his keen wit, warm charm, and encyclopedic knowledge of our regional environments," noted Victoria Parker, Director of the San Juan Nature Institute. "Students of all ages flock to his courses and lectures, coming away with an understanding grounded in clearly interpreted science."

Please park only in the upper parking lot at Camp Orkila. Shuttle service from the parking lot to the Marine-Salmon Center is available before and after each lecture.

The 2004-2005 Marine Science Lecture Series is presented by program partners The SeaDoc Society (www.seadocsociety.org), YMCA Camp Orkila (www.seattleymca.org), and the San Juan Nature Institute (www.sjnature.org). Future lecture dates are November 8 and December 13, 2005 and January 10, February 14, March 14, and April 26, 2006.

The series is generously sponsored by Islanders' Bank, Barbara Brown, the Gould Family Foundation, David and Virginia Ridgway, and Jim and Kathy Youngren.
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