“Beaches are scouted by grunion in advance so every run there is no guarantee your favorite beach will be visited. Once a run begins, and in a true test of fishy strength, grunion storm the beach to lay their eggs away onshore during the high tide. This rare and special event is timed with the moon and tidal cycles.”
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s forecast predicts grunion runs at Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro. The timing of the grunion runs varies at different places along the coast. For example, San Diego runs occur about 5 minutes earlier, and Santa Barbara runs occur about 25 minutes later than the forecast times provided by the state.