by Ranger Jim Serpa

Ed Galewski, our stalwart camp host came up to me the other day and said that a little boy asked him, with a straight face mind you, "Do the grunion actually ‘run' up the beach on little grunion-like legs?" Sounds kind of funny to us know-it-all's.... but if you really think about it, it isn't that odd a question.

Consider all the wild, mysterious and downright jaw-dropping things that do go on in the deep blue. Some ocean denizen might think it pretty peculiar that we, as humans, spend a major portion of our lives and our life savings in pursuit of our "dream house." If that isn't silly enough, we then pay somebody or bodies large amounts of money to tell us what we can and cannot do to said "dream house." With this in mind, here are a few tidbits of information you might want to ponder about our friends from the briny deep:

For you shrimp lovers, please consider this: For every pound of shrimp caught by shrimpers, 20 pounds of "undesirable" species, including sea turtles, are dumped as trash.

For you dieters: An eight foot octopus can squeeze through a five-inch diameter hole.

For those on the singles scene: The Sea Hare is classified as a simultaneous hermaphrodite... meaning that it possesses both male and female sex organs. This enables it to cross mate with any other Sea Hare it runs across. It also lays 80 million eggs at one time.

For the parents dreading their child's adolescence: The Black Perch give birth to sexually mature males but immature females.

For those supporting woman's rights: Many species of wrasse, including our California Sheephead, give birth to only females.

For those in the real estate market: Although it's a life and death situation when a hermit crab needs a new shell, it will never kill for a shell. Wish I could say that for my real estate agent.

For you dental hygienists: The narwhal has a tooth that is 6 to 9 feet in length.

For those who still believe in the tooth fairy: Some sharks lose up to 35,000 teeth in their lifetimes.

For you lovers of peace and quiet: The snapping shrimp can snap it's pincers so loud they have been known to shatter aquarium glass, detonate mines and completely jam sonar devices.

For the health nuts: Certain Sea Anemones have been known to live 130 years or more.

For you self defense fans: The sea wasp, a type of sea jelly, can kill an adult human in as little as four minutes. It's venomous tentacles can kill up to 60 people, whereas the most deadly sea snake, with venom 50 times more potent than that of a cobra, could polish off a mere 30. Even worse news is that the endangered Green Sea turtle loves to eat Sea wasps.

For you vegetable chompers: Sharks almost never get cancer and they eat no fruits or vegetables.

For you big, tall or adipose tissue-friendly folks: The oar fish stretches up to 35 feet. Giant squid have been known to grow up to at least 55 feet in length. The big daddy of them all is the blue whale, which can grow up to 100 feet in length, consuming up to 8,000 pounds of food daily and tipping the scales at 380,000 pounds.