Something fishy is happening in Garrucha. Why are fish jumping from the water?

There’s something fishy going on in Garrucha. Dozens of fish were seen dramatically leaping from the water and landing on the harbour’s sun-drenched pavement. The unusual spectacle, captured on video by a passer-by on Sunday, July 12, quickly sparked curiosity online, with many wondering what could have caused such extraordinary behaviour.

Watch the video here:

 The ground was littered with floundering fish and the sea itself was just as alive with activity. In the video, fish can be seen diving in and out of the water so frantically that they created waves that rocked a moored boat.

To say this behaviour is out of the ordinary would be an understatement. Several theories as to what prompted the dive onto dry land have been circling social media. One theory suggests the presence of fire service seaplanes collecting water from the ocean caused a disturbance.

However, this is unlikely, not only because the jumping fish were secluded in the port, but also because the phenomenon occurred the same day the flames of the nearby Los Gallardos fire were extinguished.

Why were fish jumping out of the water in Garrucha?

A more likely explanation is that the fish were trying to escape an underwater predator. Small bait fish often react instinctively when chased, bursting from the water in an attempt to evade larger hunters. When pursued by fast-swimming predatory species such as amberjacks or leerfish, entire schools of fish can erupt onto the surface, particularly in confined areas like harbours where escape routes are limited.

The frantic movement seen in the video, with fish repeatedly breaking the surface, creating visible waves and even breaching themselves, is consistent with this type of predator-prey interaction.

Could warm water and changing sea conditions be to blame?

Environmental conditions may also have played a role. Sudden changes in water quality, falling oxygen levels or rising sea temperatures can place fish under considerable stress, making them behave erratically. July’s high temperatures along the Almería coast mean shallow harbour waters can warm quickly, especially during prolonged periods of hot weather.

While these factors alone may not explain fish launching themselves onto land, they can make fish more vulnerable and increase the likelihood of unusual behaviour when combined with the presence of predators.

Experts point to a natural phenomenon

Although the incident looked extraordinary, similar events have been recorded in coastal areas around Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

For now, the exact trigger behind Garrucha’s fish frenzy remains unknown. However, the combination of a tightly packed shoal, a hungry predator and seasonal summer conditions provides the most convincing explanation for one of the Almería’s most unusual wildlife spectacles in recent memory.