The white abalone, once an important commercial species along the southern California coast, may be close to biological extinction.
Using a remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV), a survey team from Channel Islands National Park, National Park Service Submerged Cultural Resources Unit, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and the Marine Conservation Biology Institute investigates the abundance and distribution of white abalone around the Channel Islands to obtain the latest estimates of the population status of the species.