HELPING THE CAUSE - GRUNION EGG HATCHING AT CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM

CABRILLO MARINE AQUARIUM - GRUNION ETC.

I have always wanted to witness the grunion fish who procreate by coming out of the water and laying eggs on beaches before moving on, but have never.

We visited the CABRILLO (Beach) MARINE AQUARIUM recently and were happy to partake in an activity, hatching grunion eggs.  Thousands of these eggs are left on beaches and fertilized there and these were collected in glass baby food type jars full of sea water.  They appeared to be little beads of light if you held up the jar. 

A group of us were instructed to shake the jars gently, as if the sea waves were stirring up the water, and before out eyes the fish hatched.  You could see their little black eyes and they were swimming around in the jars, which were collected to be taken to the beach and let go!

GRUNION ARE THE ONLY FISH TO JUMP OUT OF THE WATER TO LAY EGGS ON THE BEACH

"Along southern California's sandy beaches, from March through September, one of the most remarkable life cycles in the sea is completed; the California grunion comes ashore to spawn. ... California grunion are small silvery fish found only along the coast of southern California and northern Baja California. Most sportsmen would be unaware of their existence were it not for the unique spawning behavior of these fish. Unlike other fish, grunion come out of the water completely to lay their eggs in the wet sand of the beach."

We're linking to the California Department of Fish and Game...