Some Obscurish facts
#1318
Since 1978, populations of American, Asian and European eels have declined almost 99%, probably due to pollution and overfishing. Eels, like sharks, are an under-studied and under-appreciated part of our aquatic ecosystems. They spawn only once, in the Sargasso Sea and similar places in the Pacific, and the young then migrate to fresh water streams and estuaries where they live for the next 10 to 50 years, accumulating toxic chemicals in their gonads, which may be making successful reproduction increasingly difficult.
Since 1978, populations of American, Asian and European eels have declined almost 99%, probably due to pollution and overfishing. Eels, like sharks, are an under-studied and under-appreciated part of our aquatic ecosystems. They spawn only once, in the Sargasso Sea and similar places in the Pacific, and the young then migrate to fresh water streams and estuaries where they live for the next 10 to 50 years, accumulating toxic chemicals in their gonads, which may be making successful reproduction increasingly difficult.