S2 - Episode 6

Lieutenant Kathy Ponting is a legendary former game warden for the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. A second-generation warden (her father was also a state game warden for California), Kathy rose to become the head of the well-respected Special Operations Unit (SOU), a very formidable team of dedicated plain clothes wardens who conducted undercover work and complex investigations involving violations of California's wildlife laws. Over the years, her team developed exceptional skills at conducting surveillance in every type of situation. If you were being followed by her team, they were invisible and you never knew it. Kathy and the SOU spent much of their time concentrating on the illegal commercial take of abalone, a marine snail found in coastal waters of California and just a handful of other locations around the world. Already devastated by the effects of global warming, the life of the abalone was made all the harder by unscrupulous poachers who illegally harvested them and sold them to Asian buyers. Join Ed in the conversation with Kathy as they discuss her SOU team and an incredible abalone case they worked on and cracked.