Tours offer chance to watch fish sex

It's become something of a spectator sport in Southern California: watching small fish spawn near midnight on local beaches. The mysterious grunion are expected back on the sand in a matter of weeks and Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego is offering public outings to watch the unusual mating routine.



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.


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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.