Little Spaghetti Noodles: The Secret Life of the American Eel

About this episode

This episode explores the mysterious life cycle of the American eel and the community science efforts to study them in Black Creek, New York.

Every spring, something remarkable happens in the tidal waters of Black Creek in Esopus, New York: tiny, translucent eels — just an inch and a half long and barely the weight of a postage stamp — swim in from the Atlantic Ocean, following a journey that began in the Sargasso Sea nearly a year before. In this episode, guest host Sierra DeVito joins the Hudson River Eel Project at Black Creek Preserve, where Professor Susan Hereth of SUNY New Paltz leads a team of college and high school students in weekly data collection on the American eel — one of nature's most elusive and mysterious creatures. No one has ever witnessed eels spawning. No one knows exactly what draws them to the Hudson, or to Black Creek specifically. And yet, year after year, they return. We wade in with the crew as they haul the fyke net, count and weigh glass eels, record field data, and release the eels upstream. We also hear from students about what it means to do real science in the real world — and why it matters. In this episode: The remarkable (and still poorly understood) life cycle of the American eel, from the Sargasso Sea to the Catskill tributaries How community scientists collect data that feeds…

People in this episode

Guest: Sierra DeVito

Topics covered

• American eel
• environmental education
• community science
• fisheries research
• life cycle
• black market

Keywords

• American eel
• Sargasso Sea
• Hudson River
• community science
• environmental education
• glass eels
• fisheries research

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: SUNY New Paltz, Hudson River Eel Project, NYS DEC

Places: Black Creek, Esopus, New York, Sargasso Sea, Hudson River, Catskill tributaries

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