You’re in good company if you’ve combed the shoreline for shells, marveled at the glinting, microscopic pieces that make up the sand, or held a snail shell up to your ear listening for the ocean or ...

Hunched over a tank inside the Bodega Marine Laboratory, alongside bubbling vats of seaweed and greenhouses filled with algae, Kristin Aquilino coaxed a baby white abalone onto her hand. She held out ...