grunion greeting, 2014 #4

female California grunion dug in sand laying eggs

while 4 males cluster around her head

Leuresthes tenuis
(CDFW)

 

It was all about the group fish p0rn this late 3rd night, high tide after the full moon.  We spotted numerous clusters of 4-5 males per female, as compared to one on one.  This only seems to happen when the runs are heavier, which makes sense.  The females are quite acrobatic, flipping themselves straight up into the air out of the sand to catch the next big wave back to the ocean.  It's totally fun to watch under the light of the full moon.

open season
4 spotted cusk-eels, 1 northern anchovy(?), several grunion

Steve the Fisherman was there (must recruit him!) with 6 other people and 2 buckets when we arrived.  They were the same folks from last year June 8 when Bob Lea measured fish.  They remembered me and asked if I wanted take measurements of their hand catch.  I did, which is a little tricky with wet fish and wet paper and wet pen and wet sand.  Have I mentioned it was wet?  And cold?  I have no idea what I was doing.  They told me they arrived around 10:30, started seeing cusk-eels around 11, and then the grunion followed with ~25 at a time.  I was impressed with how much they knew.  There was a tiny silver fish in their bucket (at 3 o'clock above) that did not look like a grunion.  I'm totally making a guess that it's an anchovy, because my other flash pics of it in my hand, in the dark, did not provide any detail.

W-2 (shown above) and possible W-3 closer to the wharf

grunion greeting

Considering the bucket-toting folks were next to the wharf, Andy and I walked down the beach. About 250 yards down, there were another couple spots of grunion.  We stood between the two locations for most of our watch.  Andy walked down to the cement structure past a bonfire group, and he didn't find any additional grunion spots.  A couple hundred came up in a few waves around 12:30, but mostly it was maybe a dozen to 30 or so at a time over the course of 45 minutes that we observed them.  When we returned to the wharf, the group described hundreds coming up onto a long flat section of the beach.  It sounded like a W-3 to me.  For Monterey, this was a good grunion night.  To compare with my past observations, click to see a definite W-3 and a fantastic W-4.

06/12/14 full moon 9:13pm
06/14/14 high tide 11:51pm 6.16 ft
beaches: Municipal
Charlies: 6 + 1 western gull + flock of unknown gulls
others: Andy, Steve the Fisherman, 6 other people grunion fishing by hand, and a bonfire group
my observation time: 11:29pm - 12:57pm
W-2, 30 at a time already running on arrival, couple hundred at a time max

sunrise ~ 09/01/13 ~ at home

sunrise from home

September 1, 2013

We heard there were over 100 humpback whale sightings yesterday due to anchovies in the Bay, so we're keeping an eye on the water more than usual.  It's been absolutely gorgeous here the past few days.  Lots of sunshine, finally; June gloom fog that last through August is long gone.  September and October are the hottest months in Monterey with an average high temperature hovering around 70°F (21.1°C).  The water has been extremely quiet, despite it being comfortably breezy.  Based on my observations from past years, it should remain quiet until the autumnal equinox later this month when the waves kick up in a big, loud way.  Hopefully, I'll be finishing up my physical therapy from my bicycle accident, and then I'll be able to enjoy the fall changes out on the trails.  Until then...

ps 09/07/13 - Well, that was a load of hooey.  The waves are very loud this morning, much earlier in the month than I expected.  So much for my past observations.

pss 09/08/13 - A belted kingfisher came flying into view out of the fog this morning, trailing its distinctive rattle.  Ha!  The fog has returned in all its glory.  I'm enjoying the variation.

northern anchovy ~ 05/18/10 ~ Wharf No. 2

northern anchovy / Californian anchovy

Engraulis mordax

The fishermen were quite pleasant out on the commercial wharf. Maybe there's a difference in gruffness from those who fish during the day as opposed to those who fish at night, like we've met during grunion greeting nights. Some folks were pulling up 5-6 anchovies on the same multi-hooked line at a time. I don't know what they were using as bait. The water was so clear that you could see the massive schools swimming around the pier.

We never ate the canned stuff as a kid, but as an adult I crave sardines and those bigger kipper snacks from time to time. I understand from the local fishermen that fresh sardines are a world of difference from the canned ones.  I'm still reading up on the difference between mackerel, sardines, and anchovies, not to mention grunion. I've added a new label small silvery fish, since I don't know how else to group them, considering they're all in different fish families.

ps 04/03/14 - I should mention the fishermen told me these were Pacific sardine (Sardinops sagax caerulea).  I find some fishermen are quite knowledgeable about their fish, and others just act like they know everything.  I've corrected the ID above now that I know better.  The giveaways for me are the gaping jaws on anchovies and lack of rows of black spots on sardines.

leopard shark and anchovy ~ 05/13/10 ~ Elkhorn Slough

While hiking at Elkhorn Slough with a friend this afternoon, we came across this unusual sight of people in the water with a huge net. What are they doing?!? So, we stuck around to watch.

Oooh, there's something moving in that net! There are two somethings! Leopard sharks! The sharks were not happy campers at being caught, but they didn't flail about as much as I thought they would. They looked incredibly strong, though.

After checking the sex and recording some basic data, these folks then proceeded to collect all those little silvery fish in the net and count them. I overheard that some were anchovies and identified mainly by their large jaws.

leopard shark
Triakis semifasciata

Within 10 minutes the researcher fellow let the sharks loose back in the water. I would have jumped in to ask questions, but these folks appeared to be extra busy collecting those little silvery fish. Link forward to learn more about monitoring sharks at Elkhorn Slough. Cool!