Great news for Molluscs! (a topic dear to my heart!)

Black Abalone Federally Protected in California, Mexico

Though we're famous for working on polar bears, wolves, and whales, the Center for Biological Diversity works just as hard to protect small plants and animals that few people will ever see. We think all creatures are equal and deserving of a chance to survive. So we're excited to report that our multi-year campaign to save the black abalone from extinction got a big boost when the National Marine Fisheries Service placed it on the federal endangered species list this week. The agency will now have to prepare a federal recovery plan and protect the abalone's habitat.

Once occurring at densities of up to 120 individuals per square meter off the coast of California and Baja, Mexico, the black abalone has declined by as much as 99 percent due to commercial fishing (now outlawed), a devastating disease called withering syndrome (exacerbated by global warming), and ocean acidification, which hinders its ability to build a shell.

The black abalone joins the white abalone, elkhorn coral, and staghorn coral as the only marine invertebrates among the 1,300 species protected by the Endangered Species Act. All are endangered by global warming, and all won protection due to scientific petitions by the Center for Biological Diversity.

Read more in the San Jose Mercury-News.

Blog post is from the Center for Biological Diversity newsletter.

P.S. Those of you that have been freaked out by my new cell phone ringtone (common loon), it is from the Center for Biological Diversity free ringtone page...