Mid-April Update, 2009 Grunion Runs

A Message from Karen Martin, Ph.D., Pepperdine Professor of Biology

April and May are closed season for California Grunion: No take (except for photos)!

Greetings to the Grunion Greeters!  Welcome back to the best time of year, grunion season.

A Glitter of Grunion
Photo by Donna Stern

Happy Easter grunion were busy hiding their eggs all over the southern California coast this past weekend. We started the official Grunion Greeting season with a huge turnout of both the Greeters and the California Grunion themselves.

After eight workshops we have over 500 trained citizen scientists eager to witness the natural phenomenon of the grunion spawning run. Both people and fish were out in force over the Easter weekend in absolutely perfect conditions as the Greeters were met by a silver tide of California Grunion washing in on the waves.

Grunion Greeter Jessica wrote,

Last night was my first time and was it ever wonderful. Their flip and flopping sounds were louder than those of the nearby waves.

But to see their bellies glinting in the moonlight all down the beach for about 60 or so yards was incredible. It was constant movement everywhere.

Thank you Melissa, Karen and everyone else for leading me to such a spectacular show of Mother Nature!”

Tom and Ahlia greet the grunion
Photo by Maggie

Over 150 reports were filed by more than 500 observers. This is a great start. Thank you for getting your reports in so promptly and letting us know how the grunion are doing.

Even on the same beach, different nights may bring different results. Jason reports: “I saw none last night. Tonight, wow. Before, I always thought 'the grunion run' was some sort of inside joke for tourists. Very cool to actually see it.”

We had strong runs on beaches throughout San Diego County, Orange County, and Los Angeles County and a few fish showed up in Ventura County as well. This series of potential run nights was remarkable for runs on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th nights on many beaches. What does this mean for the next series? Only the grunion know, until you observe them and pass the word along to us.

Grunion Greeter Cozette wrote,

“Last night was a first for both Gloria and I. As soon as we walked to the water line we saw scouts and we were thrilled with that. When they got up to a W3 we were like two kids. Gloria and I just kept saying "can you believe this? It's JUST like they showed us!!"

We stood in one spot for close to 40 minutes and there were grunions thick as can be for as far as you could see. Just took our breath away. It is hard to explain how excited we were!

I'm 67 years old and I can't remember when I've been so excited about an event in my life. I am so thrilled that I stepped out of my comfort zone and signed up for this fantastic journey.”

A wave of grunion on shore
Photo by Bruce Yazejian

The public grunion program at Doheny Beach had a great turnout, according to Julianne: “A W-4 the full length of the beach, pretty thick, even though we had a large crowd of people. The night herons are having a field day!” On a different beach, Jennifer noted “There’s lots of people but we are monitoring them too. Yay grunion!” Noise and commotion can delay or end a grunion run, so quiet observation will provide the best showing.

Observation only during Closed Season
Photo by Julianne E. Steers

Predators

Many birds, including pelicans, night herons and terns, were reported feasting on the Grunion. A sea lion and shovel-nose guitar fish were seen on some beaches.

Grunion caught behind wrack
Photo by Patricia Kuzmierski

Some grunion may get caught behind wrack or sand berms with higher waves. Most fish will be able to get back on a subsequent wave but occasionally they miscalculate and be stranded by a larger swell.

Poachers

Anyone catching California Grunion during April and May is poaching. There is no take until June. Please report poachers to the Cal-Tip HotLine, 1 888 DFG-CALTIP (888 334-2258). If the tip results in an arrest, the caller may be eligible for a reward of up to $1000.

What a way to jump into Spring! This is the best showing of California Grunion so early in the season that we have witnessed during the 8 years of the Grunion Greeter program. Great job everyone! Be sure to sign up for observations on the next run series in the dark of the moon at the end of this month.

Thank you for your data and your enthusiasm! And may the fish be with you.

Grunion dance
Photo by Cozette Morstein

More Grunion Greeter Quotes from different beaches on this show:

Joe: “We have a good 3 here, lots of patches of hundreds of fish.”

Sandra: “We’ve conferred with other Grunion Greeters and we believe we have a 5 here. We have more than an hour of so many fish you can’t get through them. It’s a very wide and very long run.”

Jonathon: “Last night I did my first grunion greeting and I must say that it was awesome even though we did not see any little guys, but that's what we have next time for.”

Marisa: “I think it’s a W-4, started around 11:30 and now after midnight. It started a 3, then it became a 4. Thousands of grunion, all across the coast. It’s an unbelievable sight.”

John: “About a W-3, sporadic in some areas, for almost a quarter of a mile, lasting about 45 minutes and still going on right now.”

Sabrina: “A W-4, this is awesome! Thank you thank you for this opportunity, we are having a blast!”

Tori: “We are in the middle of a giant run. There are so many fish here, it’s fish-tastical!”

Mark: “It looks like it is a 5, a silver lining all the way down to the jetty.”