Last grunion grab this week, fleas are peaking

It’s open grunion season for the last time this year on Wednesday-Saturday, August 16-19. Roughly between the hours of 10pm and 1am, just after the nocturnal highest tide, the small, silvery grunion tend to spawn on wide, gently sloping beaches such as Silver Strand, Mission Beach, Pacific Beach, La Jolla Shores, and Del Mar. California law allows the taking of grunion in summer (except in those areas classified as ecological preserves). A California fishing license is required for persons 16 years and older and south of Point Arguello, an Ocean Enhancement Validation is also required. Grunion may be taken by hand only. No holes may be dug in the beach to entrap them. Since June 2022, the daily bag and possession limit for grunion has been 30 fish. Additional grunion information can be obtained by visiting wildlife.ca.gov/fishing/ocean/grunion.

Fleas, the bane of pets and humans alike, are hopping all over San Diego again as the summer progresses. This year might be worse than usual because of the copious precipitation we received last rainy season. Fleas were even more troublesome in San Diego County’s past than they are today. Soldiers on the Portola expedition over two centuries ago named a deserted Indian village in today’s North County “Rancheria de las Pulgas”; and the problem of pulgas (“fleas”) in the dusty streets and dwelling places of southern California were commonly mentioned in 19th-century journals and diaries. The place-names Las Pulgas Canyon and Las Pulgas Road in Camp Pendleton are reminders of a timeless torment.

About 30 minutes after sunset on August 18, the crescent Moon will be very low in the western sky. Mars will be faintly visible just to the lower left of it (at dusk in North America). Below them, Mercury is probably too low and faint to be seen without binoculars.