Summertime is beach time in Southern California, even at night. Locals gather around bonfires, roast marshmallows and enjoy each other's company. On some very special nights, there's even sex — at least for the fish. The grunion run happens only in the spring and summer months. Late at night, under the full and new moons, thousands of tiny, silvery fish swim to shore for a very peculiar mating ritual. "The grunions are basically spawning tonight," says Larry Fukuhara, the program director at the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro. "The females are coming out," he says. They'll burrow backwards into the sand about 2 or 3 inches. Then the males will "wrap around" and fertilize the eggs, Fukuhara adds. Grunion look a lot like sardines, just a little bigger. They're native only to Southern California and the upper Baja Peninsula. On this night, the tiny, silvery fish are expected around 10:30 p.m. There is no guarantee of a grunion sighting, but Fukuhara stays positive. It's a romantic
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