So many people turned out for the events in recent years that Scripps has doubled the number it's prepared to take along this year. "In the past, our max was 45 and we sold out several times. People love grunion," said Jessica Crawford, a spokeswoman for Birch Aquarium at Scripps.
On spring nights following high tides, hundreds of the silvery fish ride the waves onto shore for the reproduction ritual. Female grunion bury themselves in the sand to lay eggs, and males wrap around the females to fertilize their eggs. Waves then wash them back to sea. Naturalists from the Birch Aquarium are offering guided tours of the spawning runs that start with a presentation and an opportunity to witness grunion eggs hatch and a beach excursion in the moonlight.
YouTube link.
Of course, there's no guarantee that the grunion will show up at any given beach when tour groups arrive. "Sometimes people don't see anything because that is how nature is," Crawford said. Participants are advised to bring a flashlight and warm jacket. The cost is $12 per person and Scripps said kids must be at least 6 years old to participate.
3 comments:
Not exactly "sex". They mate by spawning, just in an unusual way.
I'm guessing grunion are off the menu these days? They used to be gathered by the bucketful and fried up like whitebait. Tempus fugit.
My parents lived at Sunset Beach during the depression, and the only time they ever had enough to eat was when the grunion were running.
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