Grunion

Grunion (Leuresthes tenuis), small fish whose breeding habits have become a tourist attraction in California. For 3 or 4 nights in succession, when the tide is at its highest, the grunions leap from the waves onto the beach in thousands. Each female is accompanied by a male who fertilizes her eggs as she lays them in the sand. After spawning, the fish go back into the water. Two weeks later, when the tides are at their peak again, young grunions pop out of the eggs and are washed back into the sea.