Felix Macias makes his way through the early morning fog to the northern California coast, where cliffs fall into the frigid Pacific Ocean. He's always a little afraid, he says. He has seen men drown in the ocean. All it takes Is one mistake. And it is easy to become tired in the heavy seas.

Felix suits up, grabs his diving gear, and plunges in.

Author, park maintenance worker, and graduate of the Indiana School for the Deaf, Felix is in search of abalone.

"An abalone is a sea mollusk ... a giant snail," he explains. "It's so delicate and delicious that it is very hard to describe... "

Felix has been hunting abalone-and cooking them up for his friends-for more than 10 years.

Felix Macias--abalone hunter

"The taste is heavenly," he says, "so good that you would come up and bang on my home's door, begging for more. "

Felix was so proud of his first catch that he fried it up and shared it.

" You catch them, clean them, and cook them!" said Felix. His friends loved them, too.

When he is not diving for abalone, Felix works

His new book explains everything there is to know about abalone.

for the park service. He helps to maintain an abandoned Russian fort in Fort Ross State Historic Park.

"The Russians built the fort in 1812, " he said. "They stayed until 1840, catching sea otters to sell their skins."

After a friend died while diving, Felix wrote a book to help people learn how to dive safelyand eat well, too. The book, All Abalone are Deaf, is about his adventures with abalone-how to catch it, how to cook it, and how to leave some in the sea for others so that abalone can be enjoyed by future generations.

He has already sold 1000 copies of his book, he said-almost all to hearing people.

To order the book, contact: Platt & Company, Box 908, Guala, California 95445.

Also feel free to contact Felix: 707-847-3601 (Fax); felix@mcn.org.