Fishing

My foot has been doing pretty well until I twisted it again.  This morning I was definitely slowing Dad/Earl down.  I walked with him to the pier and then asked him to walk the rest of the way on his own.  I stood for a few minutes watching a young man in a kayak try to get beyond the surf and out to the calmer water.  He would almost make it and then he could not overcome the force of the waves.  He would be pushed backwards towards the beach.  He would turn around so that he could see where he was, then he would face the ocean again and struggle to get beyond that powerful surf. 

I watched for awhile then I turned around and started back toward the parking lot.  As I was walking along, I saw a small fish lying on the beach.  It had apparently been washed in with the tide.  However, the tide was going out so the water might not get close enough for this 4 inch long fish to get back into the ocean.  It was still alive.  I could see its gills moving.  I tried to pick it up and carry it back to the water, but it so wiggly that I lost it.  I picked it up again with some of the sand around it.  I got out fairly deep and dropped it into the surf.  

For a couple of minutes I waited to see if I could spot the fish being tossed back onto the shore by the tide.  I didn't see it so I started walking again.  Just when Earl joined me, we saw a young woman pick the fish up off the sand.  I told her that I had tried to get it back into the ocean but the tide seemed to throw it right back.  We watched as she made her effort to restore the fish to its natural environment.  Almost immediately she saw it being swept back towards the beach.  

We didn't stay to see if she tried throwing the fish back into the ocean again.  

I decided that although it was still alive, it must have been so weak that it could not deal with the force of the tide.  The kayaker was making a much more valiant effort in his fight against the waves, but neither one of them seemed to be making it out to sea.  

This is a picture of Grunion which is native to Southern California and Baja California.  Could this be our fish?  It certainly looks like it.  It also would account for the fact that the fish was living despite being on the sand. Check out this NPR story.