AQUILINO: SO HERE'S AN ABALONE.

IT'S GOT--YOU KNOW, IT JUST LOOKS LIKE A GARDEN SNAIL IN THESE RESPIRATORY WATERS HERE.

THIS IS NUMBER 037.

ABALONE ARE BASICALLY JUST LIKE A BIG SUCTION CUP WITH AN ADORABLE FACE.

WE ARE NOW IN THE WHITE ABALONE CAPTIVE BREEDING LAB.

THIS IS A REALLY EXCITING PLACE WHERE WE TRY TO MAKE THE BABIES, THE BABY WHITE ABALONE THAT WILL BE THE ANIMALS THAT GO OUT IN THE WILD AND HELP SAVE THE SPECIES.

SO THESE GUYS IN THESE TROUGHS WERE JUST BOOTED OUT OF THE NURSERY OVER THERE BEHIND YOU BECAUSE THAT'S WHERE WE'RE GOING TO SEND ALL THE NEW ANIMALS THAT WE PRODUCE THIS YEAR, AND THESE ARE ALL THE ONES THAT WE PRODUCED IN 2018, IN ALL--THIS WHOLE RACK.

AND I CAN PULL UP A REALLY TINY ONE AND PUT IT ON MY FINGER.

SWEZEY: AND THESE GUYS ARE ALL THE SAME AGE, RIGHT?

AQUILINO: THEY'RE ALL THE SAME AGE, SO IT'S REALLY AMAZING THE SIZE VARIATION THAT WE SEE IN THESE ANIMALS.

THERE'S A LOT OF GENETIC VARIATION IN ABALONE, AND THAT'S GOOD NEWS IN SOME WAYS, WHEN WE THINK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE BECAUSE THERE MIGHT BE A LOT OF GENETIC ADAPTATIONS THAT THEY HAVE THAT NATURAL SELECTION CAN ACT ON.

WE'RE HELICOPTER PARENTS TO EVERY ONE.

SWEZEY: YEAH, EVERY WHITE ABALONE IS SACRED IN THIS LAB.

SO OUR RESEARCH HAS BEEN FOCUSED ON BASIC IMPACTS ON ABALONE, BUT BEYOND THAT, WHAT DRIVES VARIATION IN THAT RESPONSE?

BECAUSE IN OUR EXPERIMENTS, WE'VE SEEN SOME PRETTY NEGATIVE IMPACTS, BUT THEN WE'VE SEEN SOME ABALONE THAT DON'T SEEM AS AFFECTED, THAT GROW MORE OR LESS NORMALLY.

SO WHAT IS IT ABOUT THOSE INDIVIDUALS?

WHEN YOU SEE THESE BIG IMPACTS IN OTHER GUYS, WHAT IS IT ABOUT THE GUYS THAT ARE MAKING IT?

WHAT IN THEIR GENETICS IS ALLOWING THEM TO DO THAT?

AND THEN COULD WE HARNESS THAT INFORMATION THAT WE'RE DISCOVERING TO BASICALLY BUILD RESILIENCE INTO CONSERVING AND GROWING THE SPECIES IN THE FUTURE?

AQUILINO: OUR FIRST YEAR OF GETTING THIS PROGRAM HERE AT UC DAVIS BODEGA MARINE LABORATORY, WE ONLY HAD ABOUT 30 TOTAL ANIMALS IN CAPTIVITY.

OUR FIRST SPAWNING SEASON, WE CREATED ABOUT 20 MORE.

THAT WASN'T GOING TO SAVE THE SPECIES, BUT THE NEXT YEAR, WE CREATED ABOUT 120, THE YEAR AFTER THAT, A FEW THOUSAND, AND IN THIS ROOM, WE HAVE ABOUT 30,000 WHITE ABALONE, WELL OVER WHAT IS LEFT IN THE WILD.

WE WANT AS MANY AS POSSIBLE TO SURVIVE IN ORDER TO ENSURE THE FUTURE OF THIS SPECIES.

HILL: KRISTIN AQUILINO IS THE LEAD SCIENTIST WHO HAS BEEN CHARGED WITH TRYING TO BRING THE ENDANGERED WHITE ABALONE BACK FROM THE BRINK OF EXTINCTION.

THE PROJECT HAS BEEN REMARKABLY SUCCESSFUL, BUT AN INTERESTING THING TO THINK ABOUT IS THAT WE KNOW THAT ABALONE WHO ARE SET FREE OUT INTO THE OCEAN TODAY ARE ACTUALLY GOING TO EXPERIENCE A DIFFERENT OCEAN IN THEIR LIFETIME THAN PERHAPS THE ABALONE OF 50 OR A HUNDRED YEARS AGO.

AND SO PART OF WHAT KRISTIN IS THINKING ABOUT IS, WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD FOR THOSE WHITE ABALONE IN THE OCEAN?

AND PART OF THAT FUTURE IS OCEAN ACIDIFICATION.

OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IS A PARTICULARLY INTERESTING SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM BECAUSE IT'S FUNDAMENTALLY THE CHANGING CHEMISTRY OF THE OCEAN DUE TO RISING CARBON DIOXIDE CONCENTRATION IN THE ATMOSPHERE BECAUSE OF HUMAN ACTIVITIES.

WHEN WE TALK ABOUT GLOBAL WARMING, WE'RE USUALLY TALKING ABOUT CHANGES IN THE AVERAGE TEMPERATURE ACROSS THE EARTH'S SURFACE, ASSOCIATED WITH THAT RISING CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE.

THE CAUSE OF GLOBAL WARMING IS THE SAME CAUSE OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION, SO RISING CARBON DIOXIDE IN THE ATMOSPHERE ALSO CAUSES THE OCEAN TO FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGE IN CHEMISTRY.

IN 2007, OUR RESEARCH GROUP FORMED, AND THERE ARE A GROUP OF FACULTY WHO WORK TOGETHER TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND THE IMPACTS OF OCEAN ACIDIFICATION, AND THE REASON WHY IS THAT WE KNOW THE OCEAN IS A TREMENDOUS SPONGE FOR CARBON.

IT JUST SOAKS IT UP, SO ABOUT 20% TO 30% OF WHAT WE EMIT TO THE ATMOSPHERE THROUGH OUR ACTIVITIES ENDS UP IN THE OCEAN, AND THAT FUNDAMENTALLY CHANGES THE CHEMISTRY OF THE OCEAN WATER.

IT REDUCES THE pH OF THE WATER, MAKING IT MORE ACIDIC, SHIFTING IT ENOUGH THAT ORGANISMS ABSOLUTELY NOTICE AND ARE IMPACTED.

WE ARE ASKING REALLY FUNDAMENTAL THINGS ABOUT HOW ANIMALS IN THE SEA WORK, HOW THEY MAKE SHELLS, HOW THEY LIVE, AND HOW THESE CHEMICAL CHANGES MIGHT AFFECT ALL OF THOSE THINGS.

I'M USING A PROBE RIGHT NOW TO MEASURE THE TEMPERATURE, SALINITY, DISSOLVED OXYGEN, AND ph OF THE SEAWATER OUT HERE IN THE COVE.

WE DO THINGS LIKE THIS ROUTINELY BOTH HERE, BUT ALL UP AND DOWN THE CALIFORNIA COAST TO TRY TO UNDERSTAND HOW PROCESSES LIKE OCEAN ACIDIFICATION AND CLIMATE CHANGE ARE HAPPENING ALONG THIS COAST.

SWEZEY: SO WHAT WE'RE DOING IS WE'RE MEASURING THE pH OF SEAWATER USING THIS DEVICE THAT'S CALLED A SPECTROPHOTOMETER.

BASICALLY HOW IT WORKS IS WE ADD A LITTLE BIT OF DYE TO SEAWATER, THIS DYE THAT'S CALLED CRESOL PURPLE, AND IT ACTUALLY COMPLEXES WITH HYDROGEN ION IN THE SEAWATER, SO IT BASICALLY CHANGES COLOR IN PROPORTION TO THE pH OF THAT SEAWATER, AND IT USUALLY KIND OF GOES FROM A PURPLE TO A RED.

WE THEN PUT IT IN THIS MACHINE AND WE SHINE LIGHT THROUGH THAT SEAWATER, AND DEPENDING ON THE COLOR, THE MACHINE IS ABLE TO CALCULATE THE EXACT pH OF THAT SEAWATER.

THE AVERAGE pH OF THE OCEAN IS ABOUT 8.1.

WE'RE EXPECTING IT TO DECLINE ABOUT ANOTHER .2 TO .3 UNITS, POSSIBLY MORE.

YOU MAY NOT THINK THAT THAT IS AN INCREDIBLY IMPORTANT DETAIL, BUT IT ACTUALLY TURNS OUT THAT ANIMALS IN THE OCEAN HAVE EVOLVED IN A PRETTY STABLE pH, THAT THE MAGNITUDE OF CHANGE WE'RE EXPECTING IS MUCH GREATER THAN THEY'VE SEEN IN ANY RECENT EVOLUTIONARY PERIOD OF TIME.

AQUILINO: ALL OF THE CALDERA INSTRUMENTS COME BACK TOMORROW.

SWEZEY: OH.

HILL: SO THIS PLACE WILL BE HUMMIN' STARTING THIS WEEKEND.

SWEZEY: OK. HILL: WE WERE PARTICULARLY INTERESTED IN SPECIES ALONG THE WEST COAST OF THE U.S. THAT PEOPLE WOULD REALLY IDENTIFY AS SORT OF CLASSIC WEST-COAST SPECIES.

AND SO WE BEGAN THINKING ABOUT OCEAN ACIDIFICATION IMPACTING ABALONE AND OTHER SPECIES THAT MANY PEOPLE ON THE WEST COAST, IF YOU'RE WALKING ALONG A SHORE, THEY'RE THE SPECIES THAT YOU THINK OF AS BEING SORT OF CHARACTERISTICALLY WHAT YOU WOULD FIND ON THIS SHORE.

WHEN AN ABALONE OR A CLAM IS MAKING ITS SHELL, IT IS ESSENTIALLY PULLING COMPONENTS OUT OF THE WATER.

IT'S PULLING BUILDING BLOCKS OUT OF THE WATER AND MAKING A HARD PART.

AND WHAT OCEAN ACIDIFICATION DOES IS IT MAKES IT HARDER FOR THEM TO FIND THOSE BUILDING BLOCKS, SO THEY EXPEND MORE ENERGY JUST TRYING TO MAKE A SHELL TO PROTECT THEMSELVES FROM A PREDATOR OR A CRASHING WAVE OR WHATEVER THE OCEAN IS BRINGING.

SWEZEY: WE'RE REALIZING THAT ANIMALS THAT BUILD SHELLS AND HARD PARTS TAKE CALCIUM AND CARBONATE OUT OF THE WATER AND BUILD SKELETONS WITH IT.

THE CALCIUM CARBONATE IS VERY SENSITIVE TO THE pH OF SEAWATER, THAT IT'S LESS STABLE AS SEAWATER BECOMES MORE ACIDIC, AND WE'VE BEGUN TO REALIZE THAT IT'S MUCH HARDER FOR ANIMALS TO BUILD THEIR BODIES IN THE FIRST PLACE AND KIND OF MAINTAIN WHAT THEY ALREADY HAVE, AND THAT THERE'S A BUNCH OF SENSITIVITIES WHEN THEY'RE VERY LITTLE.

WHEN THEY'RE KIND OF FIRST GROWING, THEY'RE ACTUALLY VERY DEPENDENT ON A STABLE pH OF THE OCEAN.

AQUILINO: WHITE ABALONE ARE AN IDEAL SPECIES TO BE LOOKING AT SOME OF THESE QUESTIONS ABOUT OCEAN ACIDIFICATION BECAUSE THEY'RE A DEEPWATER SPECIES.

THEY'RE OFTEN IN WATER THAT IS NATURALLY MORE ACIDIC THAN SOME OF THE SURROUNDING WATER, AND SO IF WE CAN FIGURE OUT HOW THEY DEAL WITH THIS PROBLEM, WE MIGHT BE ABLE TO APPLY THAT TO OTHER ABALONE SPECIES THAT ARE ALSO FACING PERIL.

[SURF CRASHING]