Saturday, June 04, 2005

Grunion!

Just too cool for words. The extremes some animals will go to to mate...

"California grunion spawn at night on the beach, from two to six nights after the full and new moon, beginning a little after high tide and continuing for several hours. As a wave breaks on the beach, the grunion swim as far up the slope as possible. The female arches her body, keeping her head up, and excavates the semi-fluid sand with her tail. As her tail sinks, the female twists her body and digs tail first until she is buried up to her pectoral fins. After the female is in the nest, up to eight males attempt to mate with her by curving around the female and releasing their milt as she deposits her eggs about four inches below the surface. After spawning, the males immediately retreat toward the ocean. The milt flows down the female’s body until it reaches the eggs and fertilizes them. The female twists free and returns to the sea with the next wave. The whole event can happen in 30 seconds, but some fish remain on the beach for several minutes. (The Gulf grunion spawns during the daytime, and has smaller eggs.)"


Plus, grunion is such a great word, so fun to say. Use it on your friends, or better yet, insert it into your post-coital pillow talk...

Wow, baby, you screw like a grunion.

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