Beginning this Saturday at 10:30pm, the La Jolla Birch Aquarium at Scripps (http://aquarium.ucsd.edu/)in La Jolla will host its first grunion-run of the year. Every spring, the silver fish come to the SoCal beaches for their annual spawning ritual.
According to Grunion.org, "California grunion are a species of marine fish found only along the coast of southern California and northern Baja California. They are justifiably famous for their unique spawning behavior. Grunion spawn completely out of the water and lay their eggs on many sandy beaches in California. Shortly after high tide, on specific nights, sections of these beaches sometimes are covered with thousands of grunion dancing about on the sand. The eggs remain buried in the sand throughout incubation, fully out of water for approximately 2 weeks. The larvae hatch when the eggs wash out by high waves during tides before the new and full moons. Grunion spawn at the age of 1 year, and live for 2 to 4 years."
The dates of the grunion runs vary each year depending on the lunar calendar. The Birch Aquarium offers five different grunion runs throughout the season. For $12, participants will be educated about the fish ritual, shown the hatching process, and then led to optimal spawning-viewing beach areas. Call for reservations as the groups are limited to 90.
Of course, adventurous grunion-lovers can always grab their own flashlight and hunt out the silvery fishes by themselves! Happy hunting!
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