Grunion Coming Back To California's Beaches

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Grab a flashlight, the grunion are coming.

Every year, starting in March, a small silvery fish known as the grunion rides the late-night tides up on beaches from Central California into Mexico.

There, the females bury themselves in the sand to lay their eggs. Males fertilize them during a spawning season that continues roughly through August.

And in another California ritual, "grunion hunters" line the beaches by the thousands to watch.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife says the next Los Angeles-area grunion run will start about 10 p.m. April 4 at Cabrillo Beach. It will last two hours.

Other dates can be found on the department's website.

During April and May grunion can't be hunted, only observed.

That changes during summer, but fishing licenses are required.

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