Grunion Run!!!

Tonight Emily, Natsuka, and I went to Cabrillo Marine Museum in San Pedro to watch the grunion run. I've always heard about this, but have never actually seen it. I talk about it in class, because I teach Farewell to Manzanar, and Jeanne's family catches and cooks the fish. Also, I think I saw it happen on Dawson's Creek. Even my grandma has witnessed the event, though not on purpose, as she is scared to death of fish. She said that she rented a house on the beach, went for a walk, and was attacked by fish that jumped under her wrap skirt and into her crotch!! Well, the fish that we saw were not this active. They were less concerned with jumping than with burrowing themselves into the sand.


First sighting

I got there late, because I was at Diego's house taking care of him. He was sick, and he called me to come over for two days. I was there tending to him, making sure he was comfortable, cooking him food (two kinds of Chinese soup that you eat when you're sick), etc. I'm off track, so it's no biggie. Only, he was burning up, and I didn't want to catch whatever he had.

By the time I got to the beach, there were like NO fish. Emily and Natsuka said they saw alot, but that the fish can sense vibrations, and everyone running around the beach and flashing their lights was scaring them away. :( I was sad...


Finally, fish!

But then, lo and behold, the fish arrived. Emily wanted to leave, because she had class in the morning, but I was staying put, so we stayed longer. And the fish came!!!


Fish and apples


More fish and more apples


Even more fish and even more apples

The weirdest thing was that there were apples everywhere. This is not the same apple in every picture. They are different apples. What the heck? We even saw half a watermelon floating around and what looked like a mango. It was fruit salad! Yummy yummy? Anyone know that song, besides me and Stephanie?


Where are all these apples coming from?


Looking dead


Even closer

One of the dumb things was that the fish would show up where no one was. We're all looking and thinking, "dammit, where are the fish?!" And then they'd be off to the left. So everyone would run to the left to look at the fish. They'd get spooked, and wouldn't come back, and everyone would be thinking, "where are the fish." Then they'd show up on the right. And everyone would run to the right. It was a bit moronic.

Plus, we had lights that were not all that bright. This one guy had a spotlight flashlight, and he could light up the whole length of the beach. That was pretty cool. Emily kept trying to burn out my retna with hers, and she kept on turning on the alarm by accident (it was one of those emergency lights with all the special features). I think she was scaring the fish away. Along with any possible rapists.


Hella fish...


Standing room only


Grape crushing fantasy

By the end, there were a lot of fish, but it was already midnight, and they were closing the beach. I'm sure the fish were happy that we were leaving, because they were being forced to strategize their beaching locations.

Some of the museum people were collecting fish in buckets for research. They had this presentation to show how they "milk" the fish. By "milk" they meant bend the fish in half and squeeze the eggs out of them. They said they were being gentle and weren't holding the fish, but it was appalling. Natsuka and I were totally grossed out with our mouths open and all agape. I swear I saw like three of them bleed from their egg/genital openings. They didn't look like they were being gentle at all. Also, the "milk" was actually from the male grunion. After collecting the eggs in a bucket, they would milk the males for "milk" (aka semen) by bending them in half and squeezing them as well. Poor, poor fish...