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July 5 - July 6, 2020
Eels have turned out to be not only uncommonly difficult to observe—due to their strange life cycle, their shyness, their metamorphoses, and their roundabout approach to reproduction—but also secretive in a way that comes across as deliberate and preordained.
No human has ever seen eels reproduce; no one has seen an eel fertilize the eggs of another eel; no one has managed to breed European eels in captivity. We think we know that all eels are hatched in the Sargasso Sea, since that’s where the smallest examples of the willow leaf–like larvae have been found, but no one knows for certain why the eel insists on reproducing there and only there.
why a particular eel chooses a particular river remains a mystery. This means the genetic variation among eels in different parts of Europe is negligible. Every eel seeks its place in the world without a guide, without inheritance or heritage and existentially alone.
We know today that animals can possess considerably more complex states of consciousness than previously thought. Research shows that most animals, including fish, can feel pain. Signs point to animals being able to experience fear, grief, parental feelings, shame, regret, gratitude, and something we might call love.
Once eels reach their breeding ground, they universally manage to avoid human detection in both life and death.
