Thousands of Fish Will Swim onto L.A.’s Beaches. So you want to go on a grunion run. There are a few things you must know before you go. First, do you know what grunion are? For those not familiar, Grunion are a species of fish that leave the water at night to spawn on beaches during the spring and summer months throughout Southern California (San Diego to San Luis Obispo County). Over three to four consecutive nights, beginning on the nights of the full moons and new moons, spawning occurs after high tides and continues for several hours. Peak spawning is from late March to early June. These slender, silvery fish have some unique mating behaviors: when spawning season comes, typically March through September, masses of grunion will swim onto the sandy shores at night. The females will dig nests with their tails and lay eggs. At the same time, the males will come up to fertilize the eggs. After more than a week of incubating in the moist sand, the baby grunion will hatch from their eggs and catch a ride into the sea on the nearest wave.

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