grunion greeting, 2009 #11

grunion greeting
full moon cycle (11:25pm -12:55am), partially cloudy skies

Night #2 of the July full moon cycle and we didn't see any grunion. We initially said we might not do the last-minute request by Dr. Martin to also watch Thursday night, particularly if we didn't see any grunion the first 2 nights... but I caved in and confirmed we'd do it out of a desire to report a W-3, especially considering the reports of seeing a big run on the full moon of July 2007. I think I'm starting to get obsessive about grunion. My guess is that we're the only grunion greeters in our area who have been out every single night of the study - it's giving us a project to entertain ourselves this summer and something to complain about when we're tired. Hahaha. While we've been rewarded by seeing some grunion, we still have yet to witness a major run. Phooey!

We arrived at Del Monte Beach at 11:10pm. There were 10 people already on the beach with their pants pulled up and looking for grunion with flashlights in the water. They said they arrived at 10:45pm and immediately spotted 6 grunion and a couple more afterwards. Their dog was tied up and was howling to join the fun. This group left around 11:45pm which thankfully left us to watch the waves by ourselves (see first pic above) . If there's not going to be any grunion, I do appreciate the soothing, meditative sounds of the waves. There was also a squid boat that anchored not too far from the end of the commercial wharf.

The flock of gulls was there again (see second pic). They appeared to be waiting for something. Please note, we haven't seen gulls on the beach at all this entire season except for yesterday's greeting night.

One lady from the group of 10 said she had been present the night before during the second hour. She seems like an enthusiastic grunion watcher and I wondered why she wasn't involved in the research project. Unfortunately, I was too sleepy to think quickly enough to give her the grunion volunteer info - I'm thinking I need to be grunion greeter recruiter, b/c my hubby and I can't continue this late-night program forever. A friend of hers told her he saw a bunch of grunion on Carmel Beach the previous night (July 7), but she wasn't sure if he was pulling her leg or not. She planned on heading to Carmel on Thursday night.

Our friendly Monterey City guy also stopped by to open up the bathrooms for us. He claimed he saw a ton of grunion the previous night (July 7) at 4:30am and that the gulls were going crazy. We figured that would be about at low tide, which didn't make much sense to us. This is the same fellow who claimed his third cousin sold a Spanish gold coin found on the beach for $36K. I don't know whether to believe him or not.

The high tide seemed particularly low again. Occasionally, some waves made it up to the 5th parking meter, but for the most part they hovered around the 7-9th meters. We left at 12:45 very disappointed.

grunion greeting, 2009 #10

grunion greeting
full moon (10:50pm-12:50am), clearing skies

Eh? We didn't see any grunion. I'm extra tired and grumpy today from the late night last night (I'm posting on 7/8/9). I was contemplating why I haven't felt terribly social and can't manage to speak in coherent sentences during grunion nights, and then it dawned on me that I'm out way past my normal bedtime and am virtually sleep walking. I'm starting to feel my age, and it's not because it's my birthday tomorrow. I posted these pics, 'cause I don't have anything better to post.

I've neglected to mention previously that the time shown in parenthesis above on all grunion greeting posts is the "official" time that we're supposed to be out "greeting." Usually, we're out before then and if nothing exciting happens we generally leave ~15-30 minutes early. Here are the ugly details:

We arrived at 10:35pm. There was a flock of gulls on the berm. I couldn't identify which kind in the dark, but they had brownish-mottled wings. They were particularly skittish compared to our western gulls. This was the first time we've seen any number of gulls on the beach during our several grunion nights. We were initially excited thinking they were hunting for grunion. No such luck. I believe the high tide brought up food material in the form of fish carcasses, sea lettuce, mussels, crabs, etc. (see pic above). This material was in greater quantities than in past grunion night observations. I'm not sure if I should consider this "wrack" for reporting purposes since it wasn't the typical heavier kelp or seaweed. It was a particularly low high tide (oxymoron?), only creating waves up to the 7th parking meter from the bathrooms.

There was quite a crowd at Del Monte Beach consisting of 4 official grunion greeters, 3 folks from a local paper, and numerous locals (at least 20 additional people w/ dogs). A couple of fishermen were trying to reel in something very large - it turned out to be a young sea lion. Rumors and admonitions flew about them using a line to catch a particularly stubborn grunion. Hahaha! Some people had buckets in anticipation of collecting grunion. We were all a bit disappointed.

From 11:20-11:40 my hubby and I walked to the cement structure and back, partly to get some relief from the crowd that had gathered near the pier.

I missed seeing our night heron Charlie. We left at 12:30am.

ps - As a side note, I know Dr. Martin is wondering where the grunion are and why they haven't provided an incredible display of spawning this season in our area beaches. Melissa Studer half-joked with us that while us greeters have a schedule with specific nights and times, no one told the grunions about it. Apparently, no one sent them an invitation ;p

I'm starting to wonder if something more isn't going on - highly variable fluctuating populations (gypsy moths), flexible breeding schedules (cormorants), or synchronized with overlapping generations (cicadas). Anytime when there's a mass reproductive phenomena with prevalent predators, I think cicadas. Dog days overlap in their cycles so people see them every summer, even though it takes them a number of years to mature. Periodicals generally stick to their timing. Of course, with periodicals there are a good number that don't follow the timing and show up 1-2 years early or late. Could it be like the cicadas for grunion, even if the fish supposedly reach reproductive maturity after 1 year? Maybe down south there's such an abundance of grunion that there's an overlap in populations such that some come up to the beaches every year, but maybe here up north there's only pockets of grunion so that they come only every couple of years in mass numbers. Maybe. Just postulating...

ps 07/10/09 - Here's what Dr. Martin said to my query:

In the past the grunion were in Monterey only occasionally; the first published report was in 1943 and they said that it wasn’t the first time, but they were infrequent enough to inspire comment. That’s why it is interesting that they have been so predictably there over the past 10 years or so.

The usual boundary for warm water fishes is Pt Conception. It may be that either the grunion population in Monterey is not stable but an offshoot that is replenished periodically by more southern populations, OR it may be that there has been a population holding on in Monterey Bay for a decade or so, but on the wane now. Maybe an oceanographic shift has affected them. Or, maybe they are hiding somewhere else, and have found another beach! That’s what I’m hoping the Grunion Greeters can tell me.

pss 07/21/09 - We're famous... for our allotted 2 seconds:
http://tinyurl.com/omherh

Btw - it's black-crowned night heron!

habitat ~ 07/06/09 ~ Elkhorn Slough - Kirby Park

Elkhorn Slough - Kirby Park entrance
July 6, 2009

We would have hiked at the official (and very well-maintained) Research Reserve, but it's closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. Kirby Park mainly provides water access for kayakers, but there's a short Upper Slough Trail. It's been neglected for a bit and the prevalent graffiti and vandalism makes me think this may be how our state parks are going to look by next year. As I google this extraordinary place that is Elkhorn Slough, I'm getting confused as to who owns what lands and which organizations are responsible. What do they say, it takes a village...

western pygmy-blue on pickleweed
Brephidium exile on Salicornia virginica
Amaranthaceae (formerly Chenopodiaceae)

Oh, how I wish my camera could do close-ups in focus. This was a beautiful, bright orange copper that posed for the longest time. There was a little bit of gray shading above near the body. Below it was a solid gray with no distinguishable markings.

ps 03/07/10 - I originally posted this under "unknown copper butterfly" with the label * can you ID?, but thanks to Art Shapiro's help on another post, he helped me ID this, too. Here's what he said, "Decided to explore your blog and found I can help you with another ID. Your "unknown copper butterfly" of July 6 09 is actually a female Pygmy Blue, Brephidium exile. Note that it is sitting on a Pickleweed (Salicornia), presumably in a salt marsh. Pickleweed is one of its host plants, and saline and alkaline marshes are its native habitat. Check it out on my site. Your other butterfly IDs are all correct--congratulations!" Again, thanks Art!

As a side note, I've added the label blue butterflies, not because the butterflies are necessarily blue in color, but to group the subfamily Polyommatinae together.

ps 08/03/11 - What was once the goosefoot family is now included under the amaranth family by APG and followed by Jepson.