Sam Scott, THE PRESS DEMOCRAT
A recent explosion of plankton off the Sonoma Coast has turned lethal for abalone and other shellfish.
White meat from the prized sea snails has been washing up on area beaches for more than a week, sending wafts of rotting flesh over bluffs, and dismaying those who consider themselves stewards of the ocean.
“It’s like going up to an old growth forest and then coming back and it’s been clear cut,” said Matt Mattison, an abalone diver from Monte Rio, who was stunned by the extent of the die-off near Fort Ross on Monday. “In 28 years of diving up here, I have never seen anything like this.”
State scientists say the destruction appears to be the result of a plankton bloom that began toward the end of August and is now dissipating.