It’s springtime again, which means love is in the air. For grunion, love is on the sand.
“They’re elusive fish,” said Grunion Greeters project director Melissa Studer. “There’s something kind of mysterious about them.”
Each year during the spring spawning season, thousands of these small fish come ashore to spawn in one of the most rare practices in the animal kingdom.
“It’s actually phenomenal,” Studer said. “There could be thousands of fish up on the sand all at your feet, all up and down as far as you can see.”
The Grunion Greeters project, which began in San Diego in 2002, was created to protect grunion and their spawning process through the study of human impact on the fish. This year, the organization is collecting data for the first long-term population assessment of the grunion.
The group is seeking volunteers to monitor local beaches and collect scientific information for two-hour periods during the late-night runs. The data is then sent to the Grunion Greeters’ Web site.
“This is an opportunity to not only experience this wonderful, unique opportunity that’s only here in California and nowhere else in the world, but in addition to that, they can participate in a real scientific study,” Studer said.
Interested volunteers must attend a March 25 workshop at Birch Aquarium at Scripps. The deadline to apply for the workshop is March 19.
At the workshop, volunteers will learn the biology of the grunion run. The dates Grunion Greeters have selected to observe the fish are April 22 and 23, and May 7, 8, 21 and 22.
These are just a few of the dates during the peak season, which typically runs from April through early June. A complete list can be found on the Grunion Greeters’ Web site.
“If they’re going to plan on being out anyway, we would really hope they would come and participate in our project,” Studer said.
Official sites in San Diego County where Grunion Greeters will collect data include La Jolla Shores, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, Ocean Beach and Imperial Beach, Silver Strand, Coronado, Del Mar, Moonlight Beach and Oceanside.
For grunion run dates, or to become a grunion greeter, visit www.grunion.org.