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Tar Balls Could Get In The Way Of Those Horny Grunions
Fish orgy! (via Facebook)
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As more tar balls wash up on Southern California beaches, they could have an impact on the mating fish that wash ashore during grunion runs.On Tuesday, the California Office of Spill Prevention and Response posted on Facebook that, "Tarballs on beaches in Santa Barbara, Ventura, Los Angeles, and Orange counties have the potential to impact beach and nearshore animals including California grunion." As the grunion mating season resumes this week during the full moon, crews picking up the tar balls on the beaches will be asked to disturb the sand as little as possible since the eggs are buried in the beaches. Cleanup operations will be halted at night, when the fish wash ashore and multitudes of them engage in a very public display of nature's course.
Although South Bay beaches have reopened since the tar balls washed ashore, more of the mysterious oil globs have appeared at beaches in Ventura County and more recently in Long Beach.
Although the tar balls have washed up after 21,000 gallons of oil spilled into the ocean at Refugio State Beach in Santa Barbara, scientists have yet to officially determine their source.
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