When Garibaldi Attack

When Garibaldi Attack! It sounds like a follow up to one of those mid-90’s Fox Specials “When Animals Attack.” But does the Garibaldi really attack people? Well, if you’ve ever been scuba diving in Southern California then you just might have been attacked but, because California’s State Fish isn’t very big or very intimidating you might assume it was being annoying or maybe overly friendly. The Garibaldi exhibit aggressive behavior primarily because they are defending their turf and when another fish or big bulky diver gets too close it wants to send a message. A message in big, bold, orange letters: STAY AWAY FROM MY PAD! It’s actually quite impressive they would try and chase away something as large as a scuba diver to defend their space. We wanted to learn more about the Garibaldi and its behavior so we tracked down Marine Biologist, Dr. Bill Bushing who gave us some great insight into the behavior of this misunderstood damselfish.