The grunion are running but the race...

The grunion are running but the race is on if you want to catch sight of the silvery fish this year.

The Cabrillo Marine Museum will have its final “Meet the Grunion” programs of the 1993 season Monday and July 20.

The programs include an educational film on grunion life, a chance to hatch your own grunion and a guided tour of prime grunion country, the beach outside the museum where thousands of grunion lay their eggs each year.

The smelt-size grunion make their journey from sea to shore every spring and summer to mate and lay from 1,000 to 3,000 eggs each, said Larry Fukuhara, museum program director.

From March through the end of August, female grunion ride the high tide to the beach following a new or full moon. They spend three to four nights on shore, digging backward to leave their eggs in the sand.

The eggs incubate for about nine days and hatch into tiny new fish that are swept back into the ocean.

Grunion, found along the Southern California coast to Baja California, are one of a handful of ocean species that make the trip to land to leave their eggs on sandy beaches, Fukuhara said.

Cabrillo Beach is one of the finest places on the coast to observe grunion and the museum has been taking visitors out to meet the fish since 1951.

For the “Meet the Grunion” program, the museum will open at 8 p.m. After viewing a documentary on grunion habits, visitors will be invited to hatch a grunion of their own.

The secret to hatching a grunion by hand seems a little like making popcorn. Just add salt, shake and pop.

Grunion eggs, if ripe for hatching, will pop open when exposed to saltwater and rattled by the ocean’s waves, Fukuhara said. The saltwater gets inside the egg and releases an enzyme that dissolves the inner portion of the shell, allowing the baby fish to break through.

Museum visitors will be given grunion eggs in a baby food jar, add a little salty water and give their eggs a shake. After about a minute, they can welcome a hatchling to the world.

After the births, visitors will make their way to the beach for the predicted grunion run. The fish may be caught by hand by anyone with a valid California fishing license. No nets or gunnysacks may be used. Those younger than 16 may fish without a license.

The Cabrillo Marine Museum is at 3720 Stephen M. White Drive in San Pedro. Information: (310) 548-7562.