Grunion start their ‘run’ this weekend

In the dark and still hours past midnight, people gather along the sandy shores on Venice Beach. With rain boots on and armed with flashlights, they are hoping to see something truly spectacular, and quite bizarre: thousands upon thousands of fish having sex.

These fish are the California grunion, and they have a habit of leaving the water in the nighttime hours to mate and spawn on the beach. To read more about the fascinating grunion, as well as see an estimated schedule of spawnings for spring and summer 2008, view the California Department of Fish and Game’s brochure.

You might witness this spectacle of nature on beaches from Point Conception, California, on down to Point Abreojos, Baja California. The Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro hosts grunion-viewing events ($5 adults, $1 children, students and seniors) at Cabrillo Beach all season long. And Pepperdine University researchers are heading up a project, Grunion Greeters, in which they call on volunteers to observe grunion runs and report their observations.

Be warned, however, there are no guarantees. The experts can estimate when the grunion might “run,” however, the feisty fish can keep crowds waiting for hours, and sometimes don’t show up at all. I guess part of the thrill is in the chase.

— Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

[Photo: CabrilloAq.org]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6, 2008 at 3:46 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Baja California, California, Islands & Beaches, Outdoors & Adventure, Spring, Summer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.