Nuclear reactor leaks in Southern California...

(California Vacation Update - staying at the beach)

Now I am no expert on the bible and other religious stories but I could have sworn I heard one about fish dying for no reason and floating up on the shore. It was the last thing I thought would happen as my wife and I were taking a late night stroll but all of a sudden hundreds if not thousands of fish started washing ashore. Some nuclear reactor up the coast must have leaked and killed all of these fish I thought. Maybe worse, this is my only warning of a pending tsunami headed our way. Then I noticed something even more odd. I noticed all the dead fish were flopping around and trying to get back into the water.

As strange as that was it kind of made sense. I mean if I were a fish out of water I would want to get back in too. What didn't make sense was why all the fish were coming out of the water in the first place. Were they lost? Was something scaring them onto shore?

Not growing up in Southern California or anywhere near the ocean I had never heard of this before. Not to worry I have been told it is completely normal. The fish are called Grunion and they do this every year.

To tell the whole story we had a head's up that this was coming. Nicole read a calendar indicating the California Grunion Run was scheduled for this week. Up and down the beach I could see about 50 people with flash lights and cameras all catching a glimpse. It truly was odd but at the same time really cool. If you ever get the chance I suggest seeing the Grunion Run yourself. Under the moon light I could see thousands of sparkling fish up and down the shore all trying to get lucky and then get back into the water.

From the people who know at Grunion.Org - "California grunion are a species of marine fish found only along the coast of southern California and northern Baja California. They are justifiably famous for their unique spawning behavior. Grunion spawn completely out of the water and lay their eggs on many sandy beaches in California. Shortly after high tide, on specific nights, sections of these beaches sometimes are covered with thousands of grunion dancing about on the sand.

I named this one Forrest.