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#283423 - 01/18/17 02:31 PM Death by Abalone
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
This may be an historic example of "fake news" from the late nineteenth century:

At that time, there were reports in California newspapers of finding Chinese abalone fishermen drowned by a rising tide, their hand held fast by an abalone as the waters rose. These are not very detailed and the suspicion arises that we are dealing with an urban legend, fake news that exemplified the rather extreme prejudice prevailing at that time.

A basic question is - Does an abalone exert enough force when it clamps down (and they do clamp down hard when they sense disturbance) to immobilize a normal, fairly healthy male? Has this happened to others more recently?

I and colleagues are searching for data and information. So I call upon the expertise of those in this forum to shed some light on this matter.

When Europeans arrived in California during the Gold Rush, they eschewed abalone (snails! Bah, humbug!) The Chinese, who had been scarfing down abalone for centuries, recognized a bonanza and organized a vigorous fishery that processed and exported abs to China. Eventually every one caught on, and started chewing abalone, which today are at very low levels.

So, did Death By Abalone (DBA) actually occur? Is it a hazard today? Frankly, if I were held captive by an abalone, I would do an Aron Ralston and start whacking away.....
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#283424 - 01/18/17 02:44 PM Re: Death by Abalone [Re: hikermor]
Russ Offline
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Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Truth can be stranger than fiction... that's not an answer.

I have this gut feeling that a few Chinese abalone fishermen turned up dead and people needed an explanation other than what really happened, so imaginations ran and DBA became the explanation; no one really cared much afterward.

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#283425 - 01/18/17 04:55 PM Re: Death by Abalone [Re: hikermor]
Bingley Offline
Veteran

Registered: 02/27/08
Posts: 1576
I don't know anything about this topic. It occurs to me that trapped by abalone could be a more sensational way of explaining various accidental means of death while hunting for abalone. Even today abalone pickers regularly die. I know this is not what hikermor is asking...

Found this on https://www.scubaboard.com/community/threads/can-someone-get-stuck-in-a-giant-sea-clam.519725/

Quote:
I've pulled abs before with no iron by sneaking up on them and getting a few fingers under the mouth when they are foraging and quickly yanking them off the rock before they have a chance to do anything.
I've heard though that even if they do clamp down you can pull hard and actually pull the shell off the meat if you have to.
Big rock scallops scare me more than abs. I've had then snap down hard and fast causing some serious pain on my fingers.

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#283427 - 01/18/17 06:48 PM Re: Death by Abalone [Re: Bingley]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&am...e+death-------1

I did dredge up this fairly specific account from January, 1874.
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#283428 - 01/18/17 07:08 PM Re: Death by Abalone [Re: hikermor]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
Those must have been really big clams.
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Better is the Enemy of Good Enough.
Okay, what’s your point??

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