Northern CA PPSR Projects 1

Grunion Greeters

• Organization Name

  Pepperdine University
• Project Website

  http://grunion.pepperdine.edu/ggproject.htm
• Organization Website

  http://pepperdine.edu
• Partners

  N / A
• Contact Name

  Melissa Studer, Project Director; Dr. Karen Martin, Executive Director
• Contact Email

  melissastuder@san.rr.com; kmartin@pepperdine.edu
• Contact Phone

  N / A
• Other Contact Information

  N / A
• Project Purpose (taken from project materials)

  Document human impact (especially beach grooming practices) on grunion. 

• Participant Activities

  Grunion Greeters observe small stretches of beach on nights of grunion runs during peak spawning season from April through early June. Grunion runs occur at night, twice a month, after the highest tides associated with a full or new moon. Greeters submit their observations via an interactive web site at http://www.Grunion.Org (this web site) and through a "hotline" phone number.

• Data Entry

  • Website
  • Cell Phone
• Other Participant Activities

  N / A
• System Studied

  • Marine
• Geographic Scope

  Regional
• Region

  Southern California
• Location

  Beaches in California and Baja where Grunion spawn
• Location - Map

  24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA 90263
• Time Commitment

  • Other (see Other Information below)
• Volunteer Qualifications

  Volunteers must be at least 18 years old.

• Volunteer Training

  No trainings are scheduled for 2012.
  Brief workshops prepare you to monitor beach-spawning populations of the California grunion Leuresthes tenuis. Several workshops are scheduled between March and May at various locations in California. Please see the “Volunteer to Greet the Grunion” page on the website for a list of workshop dates and locations and instructions for reserving a space. Advance RSVPs are required for the workshop of your choice. Workshops are fun, fast-paced, and free for participants. All workshops cover the same basic information but each is tailored to its specific location.

• Cost to Participant

  N / A
• How will the findings be used?

  Observations, sightings, and comments become part of a database using interactive web-based questionnaires and e-mail. This multi-year state-wide assessment program increases public awareness and improved management efforts to protect and conserve wildlife and beach habitats. The results effected significant and lasting change in official beach grooming procedures in San Diego and other municipalities throughout California.

  Research studies include population assessment of the grunion throughout their range in California, staging tables for embryonic development, effects of altered salinity, comparisons of microsatellite DNA between populations, hatching mechanisms, and evaluation of grunion spawning runs as potential indicators for the ecological health of sandy beaches.

   

• Other Information

  No trainings for new volunteers are scheduled for 2012. However, volunteers can continue to submit observations.
  
  Observations happen when grunion runs occur: at night, twice a month, after the highest tides associated with a full or new moon. 
  
  Project partners: the Birch Aquarium at Scripps, Cabrillo Marine Aquarium, Monterey Bay Aquarium, Surfrider Foundation, Santa Barbara Channelkeeper, Heal The Bay (Santa Monica), Long Beach Aquarium of the Pacific, California Department of Fish and Game, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, California Sea Grant College, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

• Photo

  N / A
• last update:

  N / A