La Jolla Abalone Diving – Bird Rock, Casa Pool and Cove
Written by mac meda on November 10, 2009 – 4:47 am -
Dennis Downie shows how it is done. Here he is with his mother, Tony Downie, on her back porch in Bird Rock with 18 "BIG"green abs taken in 1969. That was a good day, claims Dennis - photo provided by Dennis Downie
Back in the good old days, La Jolla abalone diving was just a matter of getting into the water and searching for these uniques creatures. Or in the area of Bird Rock, at low tide one could walk out and over turn rocks and there would be these wonder creatures. The prime spots were Bird Rock to North Bird and anywhere in the general area of the Case Pool and Cove areas (which is now a marine reserve) due to their rocky bottom. In the early 1970s, Richard Krug organized the 1st Abalone Dive Contest that was held off Point Loma, were the best of the best divers, free dived, and afterwords have a huge ab party.
Tags: ab dive, fishing and diving, Meda People
Posted in Abalone Dive, La Jolla Fishing & Diving | 12 Comments »
La Jolla Abalone Dive – Mac Meda Contest
Written by mac meda on August 25, 2009 – 1:14 pm -Why would anyone brave cold and potentially dangerous surf, unpredictable currents, and stories of bull-shitting, man-eating sharks for abalone?
Strangely enough, ab divers spend an estimated $6,000,000 and $10,000,000 for abalone and at $100 per pound in places, we are talking a serious shellfish. Presuming it’s unlikely that all of the estimated 40,000 recreational abalone harvesters are quite simply crazy, there just might be some reasonable explanation for this madness.
Well, Craziness is Mac Meda’s motto!
The giant snail inches its way across the rocks in relatively shallow water. Even so, diving for abalone has become one of California’s most hazardous recreational activities, over 10 people a year die from ab diving.
Tags: ab dive
Posted in Abalone Dive, La Jolla Fishing & Diving | 9 Comments »
