CHARLTON COUNTY, Ga. — Channel 2 recently shared video of researchers with the UGA Coastal Ecology Lab observing a rare alligator congregation that featured hundreds of gators on the west side of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge in July.
Now, the lab has shared images of an alligator congregation at night.
According to researchers, alligators have what is called tapetum lucidum, a reflective surface at the back of their eyes that reflects ambient light to the photoreceptors.
If you shine a light at an alligator at night, you see a reddish-orange dot shining back at you.
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The photos shared by the lab show hundreds of eyeshine lights from hundreds of alligators during a recent congregation.
“We shone our lights around the boat basin and down the canal, and there were eyes as far as we could see,” the lab posted on its Facebook page.
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