#EmotionalSupportSpood the Snuggle Lump 🖤

Oh my gosh, they’re so cute!

Beautiful old souls

BOWFIN: air-breathing fish and gar’s closest relative, are challenging to wrangle! The @garlab.bsky.social team recently collected several for native fishes research in Minnesota!

Scientists look for cause of spike in swimmer’s itch plaguing Minnesota lakes www.mprnews.org/story/2025/0... by @kirstimarohn.bsky.social @mprnews.org

Tonight's sunset walk

Is it filled with chocolate garnache

It’s been a day for drawing things. I like this guy. He looks to me like he’s asking for food.

Is it cake? (Spotted Gar…but also cake!)

The late summer cosmos are fire right now. 🌱

I wanted to get a video of this ghost crab but every time I got close to their hole they scuttled back in, so I tried getting clever with it. I made a little sandcastle and shoved my phone into it, hit record, and walked away. Crab was VERY suspicious of this addition to their environment.

Gar at Cabela's ft a drum do NOT look at my reflection

They are brothers, I couldn’t bear to separate them, and I named them both for river fish to honor my old kitty who just passed away (her name was River). The fluffy guy with white spots is Trout and the orange striped guy is Gar 🌊

Maybe everyone already knows, but living in the USA seems like living in a permanent low key war zone. Why would people want this? Why do some people think everyone having guns is a good idea?

Thank you! Their names are Trout (the fluffy) and Gar (the sleek)

I can't even imagine what my friends with kids are feeling these days. I don't know how to build a better world for them. But I know that I'm going to try.

“I sat in the hall with my son…and explained this was an emergency drill and to make sure he listened to his teachers carefully. He didn't know exactly what the drill was for, I imagine most kids didn't. I felt fear and terror for him, but also intense anger.” #ActiveShooterDrills #SchoolShootings

fish want me. you want fish. you want fish hanging on your wall #ceramics drop on sept 21, 8pm CT

Today I sat through an active shooter drill with my kindergartner. I have some words, but also no words. This HAS TO CHANGE. *in this same post elsewhere, “Take the Power Back” by Rage Against the Machine plays in the background. Seemed appropriate.

I remember the training for kindergarten parent volunteers on how to react to an active shooter... with advice like "run, hide, and just throw everything including staplers at the shooter". It's so messed up.

Today I sat through an active shooter drill with my kindergartner. I have some words, but also no words. This HAS TO CHANGE. *in this same post elsewhere, “Take the Power Back” by Rage Against the Machine plays in the background. Seemed appropriate.

Beautiful big bastards. 😊

Best thing I've seen all day

We’re thrilled to announce the Society for Freshwater Science 2026 Annual Meeting! 💡Gathering to Build Resilient Watersheds and Communities 📍 Spokane, WA 📆 May 17–21, 2026 Explore our meeting website for program details, travel, accommodations, field trips & more: 🔗 www.sfsannualmeeting.org

@susquehannau.bsky.social is shaping the next generation of freshwater scientists — through hands-on fieldwork and conservation action. Explore their story in Tomorrow’s Catch, a new digital series from AFS and CWP: contentwithpurpose.co.uk/afs/tomorrow... Featuring: @chesconserv.bsky.social

Conference organizers: If you want people who work outside of academia (or financially secure company), to give a talk at your conference bc you value their expertise, it's unreasonable to make them pay for registration. Artists/Nonprofit folks do not have the funding to pay you to share expertise.

What an amazing day. (Watch this closely for a very very brief cameo by me)

Centenarian fish!

That is not a gar.

thanks, I love them

So out there, there are individuals born before 1900. Some populations in Minnesota are composed mainly (85–90%) of individuals more than 80 years old! en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bigmout...

BIG Bigmouth Buffalo fish! These native freshwater planktivores can live for over 100 years! We caught, fin-clipped, released several during yesterday’s @garlab.bsky.social native fishes survey!

Bioturbation in action. I was out collecting some data yesterday in a restoration area of a local stream. The graph shows the turbidity caused by a muskrat that showed up and started feeding on plants. The water was very clear when I got there but the muskrat stirred up things with its activities.

My pet gar that I donated to Shedd Aquarium would recognize me and swim over to say hi when I visited her exhibit ❤️🐠 A rare hybrid gar, I raised her since she was 2 inches long, and had to re-home her when I moved to Chicago. I was happy I could visit her in her new home! TO BE CONTINUED…

I think the problem just got worse @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social 👁️🐙😬

Please consider the opportunity to comment on the proposal to rescind the 2001 Roadless Area Conservation Rule. Roadless areas conserve cold, clean headwaters and provide habitat for native fish. The public comment period is open through Friday, Sept 19. Learn more: www.trcp.org/2025/09/12/w...

Oh this gartastic creation? A little @solomonrdavid.bsky.social inspired fun.

BEHOLD @bsky.app GAR!!! Appropriate time to officially announce #GarWeek returns November 3-7 2025!!! @garlab.bsky.social

For the Mimic theme of #sciartseptember and #SundayFishSketch, it's the mimic shiner! Probably because it looks like other shiners. Thanks shiners... #GreatLakes

Quote with your blue art 💎

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️

How did you not notice the Gar Signal for a whole day

A #GreatLakes sunrise.

I just think they’re neat.

*speaker crackles* "Understatement, party of one: Your table's ready. Understatement, party of one: Your table is ready. Thank you." *Click.* 😜

🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️🙋‍♂️

#FishyFriday What allows native fish repatriations to be successful? What results in failure? The fish in question, the fish community, abiotic factors, and spatial scale-all of it. To explore this, here is the 2024 TAFS Best Paper from @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social academic.oup.com/tafs/article...

Asian Lady Beetle cleaning an eye with its front leg. This is an introduced species, people routinely buy them at garden centers and let them go to help control aphids in their garden. (Harmonia axyridis) NJ

Con-GAR-tularions to @solomonrdavid.bsky.social, @dirtydog.bsky.social, Dr. Lackmann, and Dr. Scarnecchia!

MN AFS members Solomon David of @garlab.bsky.social and Alec Lackmann, leader of the Otolith Lab at UMN Duluth both received an Award of Merit from the @amfisheriessoc.bsky.social Fisheries Management Section, recognizing significant contributions to management of nongame fishes. Congratulations!!