Ok folks. It’s time we talked about eels.
I’m a geologist but I recently learnt about eels and… wow.
Since then, I’ve been greeting strangers with ‘DO YOU KNOW ABOUT EELS?!’
Well, consider yourself a stranger in my path.
Strap in. It’s a 🧵
1/so many
I’m a geologist but I recently learnt about eels and… wow.
Since then, I’ve been greeting strangers with ‘DO YOU KNOW ABOUT EELS?!’
Well, consider yourself a stranger in my path.
Strap in. It’s a 🧵
1/so many
ALL the eels in Europe and America are born in the Sargasso Sea (in the Bermuda Triangle! Ominous? Yes).
Eels might even live in a landlocked part of Europe and yet they will travel thousands of kilometres over land (yes, land!) and sea to get to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.
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Eels might even live in a landlocked part of Europe and yet they will travel thousands of kilometres over land (yes, land!) and sea to get to the Sargasso Sea to spawn.
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Eels just need a bit of dampness on the ground to travel over land. They can even CLIMB UP DAM WALLS! Have you seen how big dam walls are??! 🤯
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Wherever eels live in the world, they just wake up one day, DISSOLVE THEIR STOMACHS, and decide to start their incredibly long journey to their spawning place.
They travel all those many thousands of kilometres LITERALLY EATING THEMSELVES ALIVE FROM THE INSIDE!
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They travel all those many thousands of kilometres LITERALLY EATING THEMSELVES ALIVE FROM THE INSIDE!
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Eel reproduction was a mystery for a long time.
In fact, Freud (yes, that Freud) started his research career trying to find eels’ testicles and failed miserably before switching to… well… Freud stuff.
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In fact, Freud (yes, that Freud) started his research career trying to find eels’ testicles and failed miserably before switching to… well… Freud stuff.
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A man named Johannes Schmidt originally discovered that eels spawned in the Sargasso Sea by surveying the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea and finding younger and younger eels until he finally found the youngest eels in the Bermuda Triangle.
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Despite the discovery by Schmidt almost 100 years ago, no one has ever been able to find direct evidence that eels spawned in the Sargasso!
Scientists tried to track eels using trackers, but the eels always mysteriously disappeared…
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Scientists tried to track eels using trackers, but the eels always mysteriously disappeared…
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UNTIL THIS WEEK! Researchers were finally able to track European eels all the way to the Sargasso Sea using satellite trackers! nature.com/articles/s4159…
Despite this, NO ONE HAS EVER PHYSICALLY SEEN A MATURE EEL IN THE SARGASSO SEA!
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Despite this, NO ONE HAS EVER PHYSICALLY SEEN A MATURE EEL IN THE SARGASSO SEA!
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Even though mature eels die once they spawn (fair enough; no stomach), their offspring return to the place where their parents lived, many thousands of kms away.
HOW DO THEY KNOW WHERE TO GO??!
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HOW DO THEY KNOW WHERE TO GO??!
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Also, did you know that baby eels are transparent and look a lot like like vermicelli?
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What about our local eels? I got you.
Eels from Australia and New Zealand spawn in the Coral Sea.
Japanese eels spawn in the Mariana Trench. Why do they choose the spookiest places to spawn?!
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Eels from Australia and New Zealand spawn in the Coral Sea.
Japanese eels spawn in the Mariana Trench. Why do they choose the spookiest places to spawn?!
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Okay I think that’s it for now.
Do you know more things about eels? PLEASE TELL ME!
One more baby eel photo for good measure.
12/12
Do you know more things about eels? PLEASE TELL ME!
One more baby eel photo for good measure.
12/12
This has obviously taken on a life of its own now, but just popping back to say rocks are cool too.
Remember volcanoes? They’re all explodey and… oh who am I kidding, eels are life!
Remember volcanoes? They’re all explodey and… oh who am I kidding, eels are life!
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