Feb. 6, 2026, 11:25 a.m. ET
A woman in California used “an unconventional storage method” for trying to hide her unlawful catch of two abalone, an endangered species. Unfortunately for her, a wildlife officer was watching.
The unidentified poacher was with a man legally taking purple sea urchins in the intertidal zone at Van Damme State Park, located three hours north of San Francisco.
A wildlife officer was observing the couple from a distance using a spotting scope, as reported by the California Department of Fish and Wildilfe.
He witnessed the woman discreetly conceal what appeared to be an abalone down her pants, “an unconventional storage method, to say the least,” the CDFW stated.
As the couple headed toward their vehicle, the wildlife officer contacted them in the parking lot to check their licenses and inspect their catch. While doing so, the wildlife officer asked the female what she had concealed.
The woman then pulled out a small abalone from inside her pants.
The wildlife officer then called for assistance from a female wildlife officer to conduct a search, suspecting she might be hiding more abalone.
Then the suspect voluntarily produced a second abalone from her pants. No additional abalone were found.
The woman was cited for the illegal take of two abalone. The male was in compliance and did not possess any abalone.
An article posted in 2022 by UC Davis revealed that all species of abalone along the West Coast are listed as critically endangered or endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
Meanwhile, the bag limit for purple sea urchins is 35 individuals, according to California Department of Fish and Wildlife regulations.