massacre at gar lake........load warning

[Cohazard]

That's what I was expecting, it's a good solid reply too.

Good job reporting it Midnight!

 

[jlnguyen74]

why are you worried?

No worry! Just don't want my community get wipe out by a false alarm!

 

[nuggets]

ya i thought gar could handle cold

pix 13 and 14 are the armored catfish
he was monster!!
and it was odd i only seen one of those

i live in michigan and we have gar and they withstand the cold even when lakes freeze over

 

[balton777]

WTF could have done this injustice!!!

 

[Cohazard]

I'm pretty sure it's the low water level. usually with a deep lake, the gar can escape the dropping temperatures by changing depth.

in such a shallow body of water, the whole thing drops temp. all the evidence so far points to a natural logical explanation.

 

[midnight]

reply....


I checked your link to the photos. The vast majority of fish kills are caused by low oxygen levels in the water, but It is unusual to see these species in a fish kill, as they are usually tolerant of low oxygen levels. The exotic species (brown hoplo and sailfin catfish) might well have been affected by the cold (a common cause of exotic fish kills), the native gar less so--but 30 degrees may have been low enough to do it, even for native fish, depending on what the water temperature dropped to. Is the lake very shallow? If so, it is possible the water temperature actually dropped low enough to kill the gar.

In the photos, it appeared that many fish were high above the current waterline, and a few photos looked like the water was lower than normal, with much of the bank exposed. If the pond is shallow and the water was low, this would have contributed to the possibility that the entire water column was affected with very low temperatures, leaving the fish with no place to escape to.

As I mentioned, this kill appears unusual, but a link to our fish kill flyer that describes most common causes is available at:

http://floridafisheries.com/pdf/Fish_Kills_in_South_Florida.pdf

Usually, if a fish kill occurs that is out of the ordinary, and if it needs to be investigated, that must take place almost immediately (same day if possible) because water temperature, oxygen level, and possible chemical traces (if man-caused) can change rapidly, often within 24 hours. For future reference, FWC's fish kill hotline is 1-800-636-0511.

I trust that this answers at least some of your questions.

bump for fwc reply

I live right off Lake Ray Hubbard here in Rowlett Tx and it's full of Gar. Texas has the craziest temperature swings I know of. One day can be 90F and be snowing the next. Yesterday was 75F and today is 30F for example. The gars never die in large numbers like that. I'm sad to see all those fish like that. I wonder if fwc will actually do an investigation.

fl gar tho?
and it doesnt sound like they are going to do anything.... lol

That's what I was expecting, it's a good solid reply too.

Good job reporting it Midnight!

thanx

No worry! Just don't want my community get wipe out by a false alarm!

they were here are you still ok?

i live in michigan and we have gar and they withstand the cold even when lakes freeze over

hmm

WTF could have done this injustice!!!

no clue

 

[midnight]

I'm pretty sure it's the low water level. usually with a deep lake, the gar can escape the dropping temperatures by changing depth.

in such a shallow body of water, the whole thing drops temp. all the evidence so far points to a natural logical explanation.

it looks low but the lake really isnt
the waterlevel has been lower and temps colder before with no kills...
after all this chat and stuff,i think it was man done,but really i know nothing

 

[skiptomyzoo]

i live in michigan and we have gar and they withstand the cold even when lakes freeze over

True, but the difference is the sheer size of the body of water, and that has much to do with it. I forget the term I am looking for, but basically the difference between large bodies and small bodies, is the time it takes for it to heat up or cool, hence why the water would still be really cold in the spring even though it is warm out. That is why it can be colder than 30 where you live, but the lake temperture could quite possibly be warmer than a place where it may be 45 out. Hence why they replied asking the depth, as that has more to do with it then the actual outside temperture.

 

[Cohazard]

I read through the link provided by the FWC about fish kills, it's very neat.

I'm betting that the large number of plecs that died off because of the temperature fouled up the water and killed a lot of the gar too.

 

[skiptomyzoo]

If you look up thermocline and pycnocline, it somewhat explains what I am trying to explain further in terms of depths and temperture and such, which is more relevant once again then air temp, so to cut it short the deeper the less of the temp swing (which is more of a factor of fish survival then actual temp), therefore enabling fish to survive colder temps in a place where it is constant, then warmer temps in a place where it is not. I understood all of this at one point when I took oceanography, but since then it has somewhat escaped me.