Most people haven't heard of Grunion, I know I hadn't until 3 years ago when JudiKins took us on our first Grunion run. We decided to go again this year. We all met up at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium which has 2 beaches frequented by the Grunion. Grunion are a small fish that come up to the beach to lay eggs during high tide after the new moon. We spent an hour or so exploring the museum before we were called to the beach to see the Grunion in action.
When you see the movie of previous grunion runs there are thousands of Grunion on the beach, they are about 8" long. We have to stand back from the sea and be very quiet, not move and turn off our torches. The Grunion send scouts onto the beach to make sure it is clear before they all descend on the sand, so if you are too noisy or have lights on they will not come.
We stood on the beach for what felt like ages, it was a breezy and cool evening. In the photo you can see Judi wrapped in a blanket to keep warm. Eventually the Grunion appeared, but like the previous time there were only a couple of hundred - it is still an impressive sight. By the time we were allowed to take photos there weren't many left on the beach. We left the beach around 11.30pm.
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