Mid-May Update, 2010 Grunion Runs

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

We are now in the midst of the CLOSED SEASON: NO TAKE (except for photographs). The National Marine Fisheries Service and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, our kindly funding agencies, define TAKE as: "to harass, harm, pursue, hunt, shoot, wound, kill, trap, capture, or collect, or to attempt to engage in any such conduct." Thank you for avoiding these actions! As Melissa so eloquently reminded you via e-mail, we are stewards of these wonderful fish and need to set a good example for others.

Hello Grunion Greeters,

Spring is here and the predictably unpredictable California grunion are even more elusive this year. Within a run series we typically see runs peaking on all beaches across the range on one or two nights, but over the mid-May runs, grunion showed up scattered across several nights on our beaches.

Grunion on the Alert
Photo by Dan Harding

On some beaches very few grunion showed up. "When my wife and I were leaving our city beach on May 16 at 12:40 AM (after our observation came up W0), we encountered a man loading some surfing gear into his van. He reported seeing "millions" of grunion at a state beach the previous night (Saturday May 15) between 11:30 PM and midnight. This was the night before our official May 16 &17 days. Someone must have forgotten to tell the grunion :-)" --David Guggenheim

Some of you were lucky to see the grunion spawing runs, like Lilian Audet: "The grunion scouts came immediately after we arrived. For almost an hour, it was only a W2, or W1 in some areas. We thought because there was a lot of wrack washing ashore, that this was the most we were going to get. Then, it progressed to a W3 and quickly to a W4. The grunions covered a long stretch from the jetty going south."

Grunion Lined Up for the Charge
Photo by L. Audet

Others of you were simply out on beautiful beaches on a clear, quiet night in the dark of the moon. Harry Agger commented, "Zippo, zilch, zero fishes ... perhaps they had been informed by the same sheriff that accosted Marty & I that 'The beach is closed at midnight!' Fortunately we had our Grunion Greeters licenses." Mujiba Cabugos noted "Light rain beforehand, then dense fog and drizzle. Do light rain conditions prevent the runs? We enjoyed the walk anyway." It's unlikely that the light drizzle prevents a run but we had windy conditions and some complex wave patterns that may not have met the grunion's approval during that weekend.

Quiet nights are opportunities for other nocturnal sights. On Saturday, led by intrepid fish whisperer Pearl Crosier, our group saw almost as many guitarfish as grunion. Erin Brown enjoyed the ambiance, "There was a lot of artificial light from the harbor and downtown reflecting off the dense fog. Even though there was no moon we could see perfectly walking along the beach."

Bioluminescent Wave
Photo by Andreas Koester aka FotoDoc

Walking the beach on clear, dark nights is also perfect for the bioluminescence that many of you have reported seeing in the waves. Marcela Fernandez "saw very amazing blue bioluminescence when waves were forming. And we saw a sea lion." Plankton such as Noctiluca ("night light") flash when tossed about by waves. You may even be able to leave glowing footprints behind on the waveswept shore.

Besides working with volunteer Grunion Greeters, each year we meet with a group of beach managers, rangers, maintenance workers, environmentalists, and scientists to discuss improving beach management. On Wednesday May 19 we held the 7th annual field day of the Beach Ecology Coalition at Doheny State Beach.

Rangers Brad Barker and Jim Serpa explain the wildlife of Doheny Beach
Photo by J. Steers

This year Rangers Jim Serpa and Brad Barker described some of the many activities that take place at their beach and their accommodations for the visitors and the animals. We walked to see some bird habitat and grunion habitat, and hatched out some baby grunion to set free. Finally we ended up at the picnic area to see some cool beach thermal video and software with Tim Chandler of CoastalWatch.

Tim Chandler of CoastalWatch demonstrates camera observations at Doheny Beach
Photo by J. Steers

This weekend, Saturday May 29, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro is holding its annual Grunion Fishtival. Open to everyone, this terrific event includes the aquarium visit, games and quizzes related to grunion, hatching of babies, and of course a visit to one of the world's greatest grunion beaches in time to see our seasonal visitors.

Phil Lopez, Rory Paster and Bob Grove hatch out some baby grunion on Doheny Beach
Photo by J. Steers

This coming Memorial Day weekend will be the last runs of the Closed Season, still NO TAKE. Given the interestingly staggered runs over the previous series, it's possible the grunion will show on any night this coming weekend. Please report your observations, whether or not you see any surfing silversides, and thanks for helping us learn more about one of California's most mysterious natural treasures.

May the fish be with you! I'll see you on the beach.

Karen