Gar in December at Spring Lake Texas

[scubashawn123]

While volunteering as a Science Diver this December in Spring Lake the Gar have migrated and are not shy around any of us divers. They are amazing looking fish. The movement through the water is sleek and smooth. This video captures a recent science dive where about 8 Gar visited the divers during the assignments at Aquarena Center.





Dec2010 no audio










Guess you need to love spotted Gar underwater

 

[driftwood]

I spotted another school of gar at Kettleman this morning. Unusual to see so many at one time and especially in the afternoon (they prefer the evenings).

 

[scubashawn123]

I spotted another school of gar at Kettleman this morning. Unusual to see so many at one time and especially in the afternoon (they prefer the evenings).

Jeff,

Did you experience them coming right up to you?

This is a new one for me. Every other year for almost 5 years now they are skiddish and run from divers.

This december many come right up and do not back down. A behavior change this month if you ask me.

How about your experience this month?

 

[driftwood]

Shawn,

No, they stuck together. At that point in the dive, I was looking for a postage stamp called Kettleman and getting concerned because how overgrown everything the place had become.

It is rare to see the gars schooling like we did today. My best guess is that we are coming into mating season. Rene and me saw a single hanging out at Deep Hole two weeks ago, which is uncommon in the morning. Gar tend to be a mid water evening critter. If someone out there who is into the "life of spotted gars", I would love to hear from them.

BTW, saw similar behavior between two turtles at the end of the second dive. They seemed to be more interested in each other than with Robert and me.

Edit

Since the temp in the lake is constant, a change in behavior is most probably due to the winter solstice. A shorter day may trigger the start of the mating season. Only thing that is constant enough.

 

[Dave55]

thanks for the great video. I have a science dive scheduled for tomorrow-- hope to have similar sightings.

 

[halocline]

I saw several the other day. They're really cool looking fish.

 

[livn2dive]

Thanks for the video Shawn! Glad you could capture the gar in such close proximity. That same day I saw five gar congregated together about eight feet from the surface while I was helping to eradicate some coonstail. I just had to stop and stare... what a sight! The largest one looked about 20 inches long, however, the other four appeared to be under 12 inches long.

 

[ReefHound]

We saw schools of them last month November 13/14. They were not shy. The first one I didn't see until he swam right in front of me. I had seen a few in the past and found them to be elusive so I was like scrambling to turn on my camera thinking I had just seconds to get a rare shot. Then we noticed more and more. They like to hang out real shallow along the banks. We saw them mostly on the far bank running alongside Catfish and Ossified.

 

[rakpix]

No, they stuck together. At that point in the dive, I was looking for a postage stamp called Kettleman and getting concerned because how overgrown everything the place had become.

is kettleman still littered with wooden planks? saw them last month when i was taking reefhound on his refresher. odd.