Thursday, March 15, 2012

Why did it have to be eels?

Just to remind you about why we (The Tiadaghton Audubon Society) are providing limousine service to thousands and thousands of squiggly baby eels (glass eels), the Susquehanna River has several dams that block the passage of baby eels as they attempt to swim up river to the freshwater streams and rivers in which they grow and mature. (The dams don't block down stream movements of the adults because they are capable of traveling over land on a little bit of dew or a heavy rain...if they don't get churned to bits in some electricity producing hydro whirling thingy.)

Eels in the small tributaries are vital to the health of freshwater mussels. The baby mussels cling to the eels' gills as they move upstream and thus disburse more widely in the rivers and streams. Mussels can filter up to one gallon of water and hour as they feed thus cleaning the streams and making them excellent habitat for trout.

So, we help the eels so they can help the mussels which in turn help the trout.

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