California Sea Grant College Program

Do you ever wonder what the seashore looked like a century ago? Many would be shocked at the changes accompanying the exponential population growth along the coast. Gone are the 20-pound lobsters, 500-pound black sea bass, rocks carpeted in abalones and octopi hiding in tide pools. Biology professor Kaustuv Roy at UC San Diego compares the cumulative consequences of human activity—trampling, shell collecting, poaching and pollution—akin to the proverbial death of a thousand blows.