Harper Clark ’26

Bella Luciano ’26 finds her true calling in life: to be a fish whisperer.

How many times have you walked to the beach at night and stumbled upon over a hundred people catching fish? My guess is never. I have lived at the beach for nine years, and it wasn’t until my 18th birthday that I discovered what a grunion run is. 

Around 10 p.m. my friends and I had a random burst of energy and decided to walk to the beach because my house was extremely hot. On our walk there, we talked about touching the water to cool down, playing in the sand and how calm the beach is at night. The second we stepped foot on the sand, the trajectory of our night changed. We were quickly confused at the sight of other people at the beach late at night, and they were not alone: thousands of fish scattered the shore. These people were carrying buckets and big flashlights in an attempt to catch the fish with their hands. 

As we inched closer to the shore, people came up to us, and we soon became informed that it was a planned beach meetup called a grunion run. This was intriguing to my friends, and many of them caught fish. Bella Luciano ‘26 expressed her emotions about the fish in a heartfelt way: “I was very surprised that I was able to pick up the fish, although I am not sure how I would feel if I were to get tossed around into small buckets. This journey has made me think about fish and their inner feelings a lot more than I usually would.” Well, looks like Bella has some future fish therapy to attend.

Alumna Alyssa McCreary ‘25 had similar a similar reaction to Bella, but hers was slightly less emotional: “As I walked onto the beach at such a late hour, an overwhelming feeling of confusion hit me when I saw people and buckets. As I got closer, I realized it was a fish! By the time I could collect myself they were already jumping out of the bucket.” I mean, she is going to school in Texas, so she might as well get familiar with new forms of wildlife. Servite Senior Tommy Hauben stayed calm through this endeavor but still was shocked: “Seeing the people catching fish like this was very surprising. Especially since it’s the beach I always go to, and I have never even heard about it, seeing so many people at the midnight catching fish with their bare hands was cool but surprising.” It was definitely a once in a lifetime experience!

Now, if catching the fish is not your thing, watching is also quite entertaining. Fellow Friar Mikey Cabral ‘26 felt very strong emotions after seeing his friends catch the fish: “I was very shocked about the fish and intrigued in the process. I will definitely be doing it again. I had so much fun! Seeing Bella catch a fish had me doing flips, and I was so excited for her.” Addison Gutierrez ‘26 agrees with Mikey: “I was very confused at first when I saw so many people on the beach at night. I had a lot of fun watching my friends hold fish even though it was smelly!” The smell was definitely not pleasing, but I think we can all agree that the spontaneity of finding hundreds of people catching fish at night on a random Saturday is a story to remember. 

So, the next time you are bored and are looking for a new adventure, look up when the next grunion run is at the beach closest to you.