Last September, during the week of the American Fisheries Society 137th Annual Meeting, roughly 450 fisheries professionals from all over the world enjoyed HTI's San Francisco Social. The event offered AFS attendees a night at the Steinhart Aquarium, great food, and a chance to watch real-time 3D tracking of acoustically tagged
alligator gar.

Characteristically solitary, alligator gar (Atractosteus
spatula) are carnivorous, freshwater fish. They typically feed by waiting in underwater plants for prey to pass by, and then strike with alligator-like teeth (thus their name). When it's feeding time at the aquarium, it becomes apparent how quick and fierce they are. Steinhart's Sr. Aquatic Biologist, David Chan and two of HTI's Sr. Fisheries Biologists, Sam Johnston and Mark Timko, were able to gastrically implant Model 795 Acoustic Tags into two gar by releasing two ‘dinner-time’ herring with tags inside them.

Immediately, the tags were tracked and the tracks projected onto a screen near the tank. Seeing the gar's behavior live in the tank and watching their 3D movement in real-time on the projection screen was an ideal way to show researchers how to observe and document fish behavior with acoustic tags. Taking the tag track data a step further, Chris Mott, an HTI Fisheries Biologist, created a 3D model of the gar and its environment. Animations provide simple articulated simulations of fish and valuable visual aids that can be used for reports and presentations.

     CLICK ON EITHER      GRAPHIC TO VIEW
     3D GAR TRACKS

     Please note track data
     may take a few
     moments to load.