April 3, 2025 • 37 mins
In this episode of 'Rarefied,' host Meredith Meeker continues a deep dive into the life and conservation of the American eel alongside guest Chris Bowser, an education coordinator for the NYSDEC Hudson River Estuary Program. The discussion covers practical ways to help protect eels, debunks myths about the species, and touches on the storied cultural significance of eels around the globe. From community science projects to personal anecdotes about eel encounters, listeners will find a renewed appreciation for this often misunderstood species. The episode also explains the concept of bioaccumulation and provides insights into how individuals can contribute to environmental conservation. Don't miss the rapid-fire questions where Chris shares fascinating and often quirky facts about eels. 00:00 Introduction: A Legacy in Nature 00:23 Welcome Back: The Adventure Continues 00:34 Deep Dive into the American Eel 00:44 Solutions and Myths about American Eels 01:02 Meet Chris Bowser: Eel Expert 01:42 How You Can Help: Community Science and Conservation 07:04 Eel Stories and Cultural Significance 12:00 Rapid Fire Questions: Fun Eel Facts 33:48 Scientific Concepts: Bioaccumulation 36:14 Conclusion: Protecting Our Planet's Rare Species
https://academic.oup.com/fisheries/advance-article/doi/10.1093/fshmag/vuae029/8108272
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Theme Song (00:00):
In every stream, in every tree, a story lives, a
legacy.
Let's listen close, let's take astand, to keep the wild across
the land.
In every stream, in every tree,a story lives, a legacy.
Meredith (00:23):
Welcome.
You found us again and theadventure continues.
This is rarefied, the podcastwhere we learn to love some of
our rarest and most imperiledspecies.
I'm your host Meredith Meer, andif you thought part one of our
deep dive into the American eelwas fascinating, just wait.
Because today we're really gonnablow your mind.
(00:43):
Okay.
Last time we uncovered theincredible journey of this
mysterious, magical, and yesmucusy creature, but now it's
time to talk solutions.
What can we do to help?
What are the myths out thereabout American eels?
And most importantly, what wouldan eel say if they had the stage
at a TED Talk?
To help us answer thosequestions, we are once again
(01:05):
joined by the amazing ChrisBowser.
Chris is the educationcoordinator for the N-Y-S-D-E-C
Hudson River Estuary Program andthe Hudson River Research
Reserve in partnership with theWater Resource Institute for
Cannell University.
He also teaches theenvironmental science at Mars
College and has previouslyworked with the United States
(01:27):
Peace Corps and the Hudson RiverSLU Clearwater.
So let's dive back in and pickup where we left off, because
trust me, you're gonna wannahear this.
I think we've covered like a lotof the threats, but what people
can do to help.
I feel like this is a goodsegue.
(01:49):
Is it like, is there Marinecertifications, like, you know,
there's a lot of seafoodcertifications for sustainable
seafood.
Is that something.
That people, is it, does italready exist for eels?
Is it something people should belobbying for?
Or it's also tricky because likeyou said, a lot of people in
(02:09):
North America, at least on whereI'm from, it's going to be in a
restaurant likely where you'reeating it.
So it's hard to, you know,unless it's on the menu.
Bowser (02:20):
yeah, they're, I don't know of a certification
specifically for eels, butthey're are quite a few
certifications like seafoodwatch and stuff like that for,
for seafood.
I have, I have been that guy,that annoying guy in a
restaurant that has said, excuseme, can you find out where this
fish comes from?
Or excuse me, can you, can, canI see the packet that this eel
came from?
(02:40):
I have been that guy.
And just because I'm curious andI want people to know I'm
curious just to, just to keepthat conversation going, Hey,
where did this eel come from?
I want to know.
Cause I think there, you know,there's, there's.
There's a wide variety.
I think that things that, thingsthat people can do is, is, is
going to sound really like Iwanted something more
(03:01):
interesting than this, but,here's the deal.
Eels are found everywhere,anything you do to help your
environment is also helpingeels, and it's helping eels
everywhere! Because an eel that,an adult eel that leaves the
Hudson River and lays its eggs,Her babies may end up in
Venezuela or Mexico or Georgiaor Virginia or Maine or
(03:25):
Labrador, you know, or Ontario.
So
Meredith (03:29):
Okay.
Bowser (03:29):
are They are mixing and matching everywhere.
So, all of the things, therecycling more, the consuming
less, the thinking aboutrenewable energies, all of those
things that feel like, oh mygod, we've been hearing these
lessons forever.
Well, yeah, that's because theywork.
It's sort of like with personalexercise.
(03:51):
We all want to glom onto a dietand an exercise regime, but
really, we all know, right?
Like, watching what we eat andexercising more is what it comes
down to.
It's the same thing with eels.
care of your environment, makinggood choices, consuming less,
just producing less waste, andgetting outside more, all of
these things help eels.
(04:11):
If you happen to live somewherethat has a community science
project, it could be the eelproject here in the Hudson
Valley, but it could besomething else that's looking
at, like, weather conditions orwater quality or, or other
species of birds and insects andanything else.
involved in those.
Get involved in science.
Start to learn, you know,increase your own scientific
(04:32):
literacy so you can understand,you know, hey, this is what's,
this is what's going on.
I think, I think when I thinkabout the EEL project yes, it's
been great that we've been ableto collect data and we have this
great partnership with theAtlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission.
But honestly, it's also been ahuge success in the hundreds or
thousands of years.
thousands of people that haveput on those rubber pants that
(04:54):
have gone out into the water andthat have like had this positive
connection with theirneighborhood, their stream,
their friends and their eels.
And like that community sciencepiece is absolutely as big a
success as any of the, the, thedata science parts that we've
(05:16):
been able to accomplish.
So I think however way youinteract with the environment,
keep interacting with thatenvironment or find new ways to
keep doing it.
Meredith (05:27):
And if you don't have an eel, community science
project near you.
There's also, I mean, in theStates, it's still Tread
Unlimited.
Here it's FreshwaterConservation Canada, and they do
a lot of dam removal or theyadvocate for a lot of dam
removal.
Bowser (05:43):
Mm
Meredith (05:43):
there might be a project in your area that might
help the, you know, a littlemore directly if you're like,
Oh, I want to feel like I'mhaving more of an immediate
impact than, you know, waitingfor that weight loss of good
diet and recycling.
Bowser (05:57):
understand.
I get it.
I get it.
Meredith (05:59):
Yeah.
Bowser (06:02):
Yes, there are.
And wherever you are, there aregoing to be ways that you can
interact more with theenvironment, you know, wherever
your listener finds themselves,I'm sure.
that there's something nearbythat they can, they can find
their way towards.
If, and by the way, if youhappen to be in New York, check
out the, the Department ofEnvironmental Conservation's
(06:24):
website, basically DEC.
gov.
And you'll, I'm sure you can goon a lot of journeys between,
you know, fisheries and hikingoutside and getting involved in
water quality.
There's a lot of cool, coolaccess ways.
Mmm.
Meredith (06:42):
you know, on the Eastern side of the continent,
like, and well, really NorthAmerica, we're really blessed
with our rivers and how manyrivers we have.
And nobody is far from a riverhere.
So.
Bowser (06:54):
is so true.
I'm, I'm blessed all, I'mthankful every single day for
the rivers that we have.
Oh, you are correct, Meredith.
Meredith (07:04):
And you've talked quite a bit about the Community
Science Project.
You've been able to, I'mguessing you still get out to
help train or to be with thecommunity scientists or, or your
community members.
Do you have any favorite or likea really fun memory that like
keeps you going in between fieldseasons?
Bowser (07:24):
I absolutely, so yes, I get out all the time and, and,
and I, and I, and I try reallyhard to like get all of my
administrative stuff done ninemonths out of the year so that
for three months out of theyear, I can get out and do as
much healing as I can.
It like right now for the nextthree months is like eel
central.
(07:45):
I also, I'm a, I'm just a nerd.
I don't care.
I love eels there.
I've said it.
And I don't even go on regularvacations anymore.
I don't go on vacation tovacation.
I like go on vacation.
I'm like, okay.
What eel species can I see now?
Hmm, let's see.
So, so I, you know, you'reasking me about what keeps me
(08:06):
going.
I just had a great, great, greatexperience.
I
Meredith (08:11):
Silence.
Bowser (08:21):
in Chella, which is a really great city to walk
around.
You can see like the Phoenicianinfluence, the Roman influence.
It's like a almost like a openair museum.
And in one corner of the ruins,they have this pond.
And I had read about this pond,this like bricked in pond called
the eel pond.
And the legend was that forhowever many years, I don't know
how many years.
Yeah.
(08:42):
People would go and and thereare magic eels that live in this
pond and they will be you couldfeed them hard boiled eggs and
Depending on who you talk to,there are different blessings
that that would bestow upon you.
of course I go there, and I'mthere with my two friends, and
we're looking in the pond.
See any eels?
There's little minnows.
I don't see any eels.
No, no.
Five minutes go by, nothing.
(09:04):
I happen to have a, an egg andcheese, half an egg and cheese
sandwich in my pocket that Ihadn't, that I hadn't finished
for breakfast, and I said, eh,let me just bring this with me.
So I put a little egg in thepond, just bloop, drop it in
there.
Wait about a minute.
And this beautiful two and ahalf foot eel, just this gray
ghost slowly comes out andnibbles the scrambled egg and
(09:26):
then slowly goes right back intothe rocky crevice.
Oh, it's great.
And there's, you go, you, youlook across the world and
there's, there's incredible,incredible cultural stories and
legends and customs that have todo with Eels, a little island in
(09:48):
Ireland off off of Galway in ashear, this tiny little rocky
island of the island is a mat isa well if you know the story is
if you go to the well and youwalk around the well seven times
and you look in and you see amagic eel, you'll be blessed
with With vocal abilities forthe rest of your life and I went
(10:10):
there on vacation I didn't seethe eel, but darn it.
I I still think i'm blessed withvocal abilities So i'm gonna i'm
gonna i'm gonna credit that tothe the the the well of enda on
in a sheer You can look it upand then lastly, but it's not
all just stories.
So I was also in In southernIndia and in Kerala, Trivandrum,
(10:33):
and I met up with a scientistthere, Dr.
Biju Kumar, and we went andtalked with the local eel
fishermen and we started talkingabout why are eels important.
eels have, to, to, to, to Dr.
Kumar's people, eels have greatMedicinal values that sometimes
kids would be fed if they gotsick particularly for asthma.
(10:54):
A little bit of eel slime.
Remember we started talkingabout slime?
Eel slime would be mixed withflour to make like a little, a
little dough ball that you couldfry up and eat.
And that supposedly helps withasthma.
And there's lots of differentstories of eel skin helping out
with arthritis and other things.
So you start.
You start going around the worldand these anguillid eels, these
(11:18):
nearly magical animals thatmigrate and hide and appear and
disappear and travel, right?
We are, they are pretty magicalcultures all over the world have
been.
connections with eels, and soit's, it never ever ends the
(11:39):
fascination with this animal.
Meredith (11:42):
I mean, I'm fascinated.
Bowser (11:44):
Oh, they're great.
They're awesome.
Meredith (11:46):
I'm, I'm actually going, well, you seem very well
traveled.
You've seen a lot of eels.
Bowser (11:52):
If there's eels, I want to get now.
I'm not well traveled enough.
There's still too many eels.
I did.
I got to get out and see, but,but hopefully I got some decades
left.
We'll see what happens.
Meredith (12:00):
And before we get into our rapid fire, hopefully you
still have time for that.
Bowser (12:04):
Do.
If you do.
Meredith (12:05):
I do any success stories that you want to share
from your program or about theeel, like a little bit of hope.
Bowser (12:14):
Yeah, I want to give you know what I want to say is a
success story is I think all ofthe great people who have also
fallen in love with eels andsort of like use this to kind of
promote science literacy andenvironmental education and eel
monitoring.
And so like, I want to just, Ihave so many like eel heroes
(12:37):
that I just want to like reallyhighlight like, Caitlin Gannon
at the Jacques Cousteau ResearchReserve in New Jersey, who
started her own eel project inSouthern New Jersey, but that's
not, let's, let's just love NewJersey for a minute.
My colleague, Isabel Stanette isworking with teachers and
educators.
Like on, on an eel project innorthern New Jersey, which is
(13:00):
fantastic.
Former eel project volunteer, JiSun Reiner, is doing eel
monitoring on the island ofNantucket.
And so, and I love it whendifferent colleagues keep in
touch with me, even if they'renot involved with eeling.
high school volunteers or, or,or former, former community
(13:21):
volunteers that are telling meabout the different sort of
environmental projects thatthey're working on or they're
volunteering on.
I just love that it's allconnected.
So like the success stories Ithink are, yes, about the eels.
I'm glad that we've caught allthese eels and we put them above
dams.
That's a huge success story.
I'm glad that here in the HudsonValley, my colleagues.
(13:43):
have worked on dam removals andreconnecting streams here in the
Hudson Valley, but I am reallyproud of all of the people who
are doing great things.
Martise Shauna, you know who youare and you know that you're
doing awesome things.
Aiden, Gracie, thank you for allthe great work you do.
I just got to give shout outs,sorry, they may not ever even
(14:04):
hear this, but I want thosenames to be there.
I wish I could, I wish I couldjust keep littering off names.
Meredith (14:10):
Well, I think that's one of the really impactful
things about community scienceand these programs is that it is
that outreach, right?
Like one individual can only,you know, there's only so many
working hours, only so manywaking hours, you, you're
limited in your impact.
But when you start Impactingothers and opening other
(14:31):
people's eyes of your impact andthe impact of your program can
just multiply.
Bowser (14:38):
Well, that's one of the great things, too, about working
with students and, and workingwith school systems.
And, and if there are anyteachers who are out there we
actually have on our, on ourwebsite at Herner.
org, and I'll, I'll give you thelink, Meredith, to put in the
show notes.
We actually have a whole bunchof eel lesson plans that you
can, you can basically bringinto your classroom, whether you
have access to a stream or not,there's really, really
(15:00):
interesting, interesting things.
And, and we work with a lot ofgreat teachers you know,
teachers who have volunteeredwith us before.
I'm thinking of, of Miss Sagan,you know who you are, Miss
Bauman, you know who you are,who are who are basically
taking, hey, you know, I, onceupon a time, I was involved in
this project, and now yearslater, I'm a teacher, and that's
that multiplying effect thatyou're talking about.
(15:22):
So if, if you have young peoplein your lives, or teachers that
you know, or that you are we'vegot plenty of resources.
No matter, you don't have to bein New York either to do this.
This is applicable to anywhereon the East Coast.
Oh boy,
Meredith (15:36):
Well, on that note, I think it's time to go into rapid
fire.
Okay.
And the first one, I didn't evengive you an advance, so I'm
being really mean, but do youhave a favorite fact?
Or I, well, how do you getpeople to go from ew to ew with
eels?
Bowser (15:56):
so, so that's just, that's just a matter of hands
on.
That's a matter of like gettingin the stream, holding on to an
eel, and actually seeing it inyour hand and realizing.
I guess my, my favorite fun factin that is that I want to make
this really clear.
American eels, the eels that wehave in the continental United
States are not electric eels.
(16:16):
Electric eels live in a fewfreshwater rivers of South
America.
They exist, but not here inNorth America.
That's my, that's my importantfact.
How about that?
I'll give you that one.
Meredith (16:29):
That's very important.
So people can be a little
Bowser (16:32):
will not get shocked by eels here.
Meredith (16:35):
will you get bit?
Bowser (16:39):
It is possible to get bit by a larger eel.
I have to say, it happens very,very rarely.
Eels do not really like to bitepeople.
But it can happen and also I'll,we'll stick with bites for a
second.
You, you talk about like hiddentalents or superpowers later.
One of the cool things abouteels that they do is they can
(17:00):
corkscrew.
They can, they, they, you know,most, most, most fish will only
eat what they can fit into theirmouth.
Eels, what they can do is theycan actually bite onto something
and then they can use theirmuscles to spit.
like a drill and basically spinthat bite full like a, like a,
(17:20):
like a corkscrew out of thatbody or that bigger piece of
meat or whatever and swallowthat.
And if you go online, you cansee videos of this happening.
amazing stuff.
Meredith (17:33):
That is wild.
Bowser (17:35):
It is pretty wild.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Meredith (17:38):
What do you think is the biggest myth about this
animal?
Is it that it's electric?
Bowser (17:43):
That is the biggest myth, but I'm gonna say, I'm
gonna say something that somepeople would think is a myth,
but isn't.
And so this is like the antimyth maybe?
Is that what
Meredith (17:51):
Yeah.
Bowser (17:52):
It's that eels can crawl out of the water and travel over
land.
And the truth is, they can.
They can actually, long as it'slike a wet night, and they can
keep their skin damp, they candiffuse oxygen through their
skin, and actually do prettywell out of the water for short
(18:13):
periods of time, so that you canfind eels, like little eels
traveling upstream and trying toget above dams, or larger eels
that may be on their waydownstream.
can travel out and slitherthrough wet grass around dams or
streams or other barriers.
So it is possible to find eels.
(18:34):
In fact, a friend of mine foundan eel in her driveway that was
probably had left a farm pondand was slithering down towards
the Hudson River on a wet nightand that eel was 46 inches long.
One of the biggest eels I'veever heard about here in the
Hudson Valley.
That was years ago.
Meredith (18:54):
Okay, so the mucus really is a superpower because
I'm assuming that's what helpsalso keep them
Bowser (18:59):
You
Meredith (19:00):
to breathe.
Bowser (19:00):
Yeah.
The mu yeah, and the mucus comesin there.
I'm telling
Meredith (19:03):
Yeah.
Bowser (19:03):
is the way we'd all be better covered with mucus.
Meredith (19:06):
And we actually didn't talk about how big do an
American eel, how big can theyget?
Bowser (19:11):
You know, if we see, if we see a, a three foot American
eel, we're like, whoa.
That thing's huge.
Probably state records, as youstart to look around, you can
see records of like five or sixfeet.
that's for the anguillarostrata, the American eel.
(19:31):
There are other species of eelsthat get even bigger, like the
long finned eel in New Zealand,or the great mottled eel in
South Africa.
We're talking about eels gettingto six, seven feet long.
They get they can get reallybig.
Meredith (19:51):
They're giving their ocean brothers some, a run for
their money at that point.
Bowser (19:56):
I guess someday I want to see one of those eels.
Oh, I would just love to hug it.
Meredith (20:01):
That would be at a little extra slime, maybe with
that hug.
Bowser (20:03):
I can take it.
Meredith (20:06):
And if the American eel were to give a TED talk to
humans, what do you thinkthey're going to say?
What's the title?
Bowser (20:14):
The talk would be humans, consume less, put less
pollution out there.
What's with this microplastics?
What's with all of these carbonemissions?
Like, even if you don't like usanimals.
Think of yourselves.
Meredith (20:33):
Yeah.
Bowser (20:33):
what their TED talk would be.
It's like humans.
Think about you, like, like beenvironmentally conscious, not
for the pandas and the whalesand the redwoods, be
environmentally conscious foryou, for your economy, for your,
for your ski slopes and yourmaple syrup and everything you
love about where you live.
(20:54):
Think about things.
Just, just see how it's allconnected.
We're all in this together.
This is not as divisive as itneeds to be.
Meredith (21:02):
Oh,
Bowser (21:02):
That's what the TED Talks would be.
Meredith (21:04):
we need that Ted talk.
Bowser (21:06):
We do.
Meredith (21:06):
also really random.
Do you think, is there acorrelation?
If somebody were, do you thinkstatistically between when maple
syrup starts running and whenmeals come back?
Bowser (21:18):
That's a really Meredith, Meredith, Meredith.
I now you've just this.
That's a perfect scientificquestion right there.
That is great.
Meredith (21:27):
so random?
Bowser (21:28):
it's funny because I have a colleague who sits next
to me and he maple syrups athome.
And, and he's, he literallybrought me some syrup today, and
the eels are just arriving now.
Your, your phenologicalinstincts are great.
In other words, your, your ideasof seasonal change are on the
(21:49):
money.
Meredith (21:49):
Thank you.
I also was out helping my dadwith maple syrup this weekend.
So it's, it's top of mind.
Bowser (21:55):
I love this.
I love this.
Meredith (21:57):
And what's the been the most surprising thing?
You found working with eels.
Bowser (22:03):
That's a great question.
I think I was just so surprisedabout, I mean, I can literally
remember being surprised abouttheir life cycle, being
surprised because it, and thesurprising part, like if, if I
think of it from like anevolutionary point of view, it's
kind of like, well, how did thiswork out?
Like, how does seems reallydifficult?
(22:24):
Being born in the ocean and liketraveling to shore and then like
living for decades like thereare fish species that hatch in
May or that that hatch in Apriland are breeding by like August
or September and might breed acouple times in a year like it's
(22:45):
just like the biologist in me orthe evolutionary ecologist in me
is like How does this?
How did this, who thought, whocame up with this,
Meredith (22:55):
Yeah.
Bowser (22:55):
from an kind of way.
It's like, how did this happen?
And, but it's been happening along time.
You can go to, you can go to theMuseum of Natural History in New
York and you can see an eelfossil that dates from the, the,
the time of the late dinosaurs.
So it's, they're doing it.
Meredith (23:13):
They've had a long time to evolve to get this
weird.
Bowser (23:16):
Boy, they've had a, that's a good, that's a good
tagline.
We've had a long time to evolveto get this weird.
Meredith (23:21):
Yeah.
Bowser (23:21):
that.
Meredith (23:23):
And if the eel were to have a super power, what is it?
Bowser (23:28):
Survival.
Meredith (23:29):
Hmm.
Bowser (23:30):
Survival.
Survival.
Ice ages come and go, you know,people come and go meteorites
hit the earth oceans change.
I mean, remember, this is, thisis enhanced, the, the, the, the
map of the continents havechanged over time.
And ezeals.
on trucking.
(23:51):
And, and so I hope that we ashuman beings are a part of their
survival, just like they, Ithink, are a part of our
survival.
So
Meredith (24:00):
How tragic would it be that, you know, they've survived
all that calamity and humans arethe one calamity they can't
withstand.
Bowser (24:08):
not on my watch,
Meredith (24:09):
Yeah.
Agreed.
Okay.
Since you work with so manypeople, you've got to have a
good story for this.
What's the most hilarious orunexpected reaction you've
gotten from people when you tellthem what you do for work?
Bowser (24:24):
So I'm actually going to, I, this, this, this is okay.
This is a true story.
I bring an eel to New York citya, in a five gallon bucket.
And I gotta, I gotta, I'mwalking through New York City
with a five gallon bucket and aneel on there, and I have a
little battery powered bubblerto bubble oxygen into my bucket
(24:45):
to keep the eel handy.
The eel would be fine evenwithout it, but I want the eel
to be happy.
I run out of batteries.
So on the ride home, I'm on acommuter train, New York City,
if you've ever taken the MetroNorth, it gets packed in there.
I got a seat on the train, I gota bucket between my feet, the
train is packed, people arefiling in.
(25:06):
I want to give my eel someoxygen, so I start blowing into
the air tube.
So I'm this weirdo sitting therewith a bucket on the floor and a
tube coming out and I'm blowinginto the tube.
And this, this, this woman aftera long day, she's well dressed,
obviously an executive or, youknow, some, a businesswoman,
sits down next to me.
(25:26):
one look at me, and I'm thereblowing, and I go, I got an eel
in the bucket.
She doesn't blink.
She just stands right up, andjust keeps on walking.
Meredith (25:38):
I think that's
Bowser (25:39):
oh.
Meredith (25:39):
very impressive.
Like the amount of oddity youhave to present to disturb a New
Yorker to change seats on acommuter.
Congratulations.
Bowser (25:51):
You're darn right.
You're darn right.
Yep.
Yep.
Meredith (25:55):
Okay.
I love that image.
Now if the American Eel were towin a competition, maybe not a
beauty contest, but who knows,what do you think their title?
What category are theydominating?
Fastest?
Smartest?
Toughest?
Bowser (26:11):
Most surprising.
It's got the biggest Delta.
It's got the biggest dealt.
It's got the biggest efficiencyrating of like perceived
reputation to Actual fact, like,if if you want, maybe, like, a
sports analogy, would be,biggest underdog, right, like,
(26:31):
eels?
Ew! Gross! Horrible! Disgusting!I hate them, and then when you
get to the truth of eels it isway up here.
So they are the biggestunderdog.
They get the highest efficiencyrate of surprising actuality.
Meredith (26:49):
Okay, love that.
And then, I mean, we've talked alot about how weird they are,
but is there a feature orbehavior, other than the
corkscrew, because I think itmight be hard to top that, that
makes you, when you look at theeel, go, wow, nature is so cool.
Bowser (27:05):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
So, thank you, Canada, for doingsome great eel research.
In 2014 a study was published.
May was 2015.
A bunch of eels were released,were tagged, were given
satellite tags.
They were caught in the St.
Lawrence River.
And they were released from NovaScotia to give them a little
(27:25):
head start.
So, thank you Maritimes.
Most of the eels got eatenalmost immediately.
30 eels, of them were justeaten.
Because, you know, you
Meredith (27:36):
Okay.
Okay.
Bowser (27:55):
to the Sargasso Sea.
It was a silver eel.
So this one eel made in cr.
If you look at a map of it, itgoes do south from Nova Scotia.
Then it goes do east towardsEurope.
Then it stops and it goes dowest for a little bit and then
turns again.
It goes do south, and thecompass directions it's
Meredith (28:17):
Silence.
Bowser (28:37):
in birds that have trace elements of magnetite or other,
or other, you know magnetictrace minerals that may allow it
to, to basically cue into theEarth's magnetic fields.
And this one eel in this studyis one of 30 that made it, is
just, was just this like mindblowing I, I say in quotes,
(29:01):
because you know, it's science,so we want to be careful about
that word.
But this mind blowing, strongsuggestion that eels have this
magnetic compass that allowsthem to travel thousands of
miles after decades.
They haven't, this, this eelhadn't been in the Sargasso Sea
or the northern or the AtlanticOcean for years, maybe decades.
(29:24):
And it was something in it washelping it get back there.
Amazing.
Meredith (29:29):
That's so cool.
Cause yes, I'm, I'm a truly abird nerd.
So we think a lot aboutmigration, spring migration is
happening,
Bowser (29:37):
Yep.
Meredith (29:37):
lots of fish migrate as well.
And very cool to think aboutthere actually might be some
sort of convergent evolution orsomething that's allowed them to
pick up similar magnetic fieldsor something that's fascinating.
Bowser (29:51):
awesome.
Oh, golly.
I want to, yes, just amazing.
Meredith (29:55):
And you've come out on this podcast saying you love
eels.
You've stated it boldly.
Bowser (30:00):
Hmm.
Meredith (30:01):
But what was your aha moment that you knew you
actually wanted to work withyields?
Bowser (30:08):
I'm so glad you asked because I actually can trace it
back to an ah ha moment.
Like, like, I actually have themoment.
I, I had the great honor ofworking for a group called the
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
And the Clearwater is a big 100foot wooden sailing boat that's,
that's called the Classroom ofthe Waves.
We would take, we would takegroups of 20 or 30 or 40 people
(30:32):
out of it at a time, sometimesstudents, sometimes members of
the public, and, and we'd sailaround and we could teach them
about the Hudson River with,with nets that we would put in
the river and pull up fish or,or, or water quality or talking
about history and maps.
It was, I mean, it's abeautiful, beautiful boat and a
great organization.
So one day We are sailing in NewYork Harbor.
(30:54):
And we put the net in the water,and the net comes up.
It's New York Harbor, so younever know what you're gonna
get.
And in that net are some fishand some this.
But there's also this toyrecreational vehicle.
This like toy plastic toycamper, you know about about a
foot long And you know that youwould put little little
(31:14):
characters in it's a little likea little Tonka truck and it's
covered With barnacles and seasquirts and anemones and
bryozoans Also, it's like it'slike a little mini coral reef.
It's been down there so long Soi'm picking this up as a member.
It was like a public sale.
So people of different ages andI'm new at being an
environmental educator.
(31:35):
This is very early in my careerand people are looking at me
with rapt attention.
They're just like, their eyesare huge.
Their mouths are gaped open.
And I'm like, I am crushing it.
I am so good at this.
They are, they are reallydigging what I have to say about
barnacles right now.
And then I notice.
Crawling out of the passengerwindow of the toy RV is this
(31:58):
slowly unspooling footlong greeneel that just slowly comes out
and lands on the deck.
And I'm People weren't listeningto me.
I was like a Charlie Browncartoon to them.
Like wah, wah, wah, wah.
They were just looking at thiseel.
And I was like, and then I wasfascinated by it.
(32:21):
It was like, Oh my God, thisfish was living inside this RV
for how long?
That was the moment that Iremember eels entering.
the forebrain of my existenceand, and, and like from that
point onward, were a part of mylife for to this very, very day.
Meredith (32:41):
Oh, that's, that's a great aha moment.
That's
Bowser (32:44):
was
Meredith (32:45):
could be like an aha, but I'm glad it was a spark for
you.
So,
Bowser (32:50):
great
Meredith (32:50):
Chris, I enjoyed this conversation so much.
Thank you for.
Donating your time and a littleextra here.
So I really appreciate it.
And I love, I love talking toyou about eels could do it all
day.
Bowser (33:02):
Thank You Meredith Well, if you ever find yourself on the
Hudson Valley in springtime Comeout healing with us and and this
goes for air for for everybodycheck out DEC gov for for more
stuff or maybe it's DC dot NYgov.
Sorry about that if I screwedthat up But anyway, every you
listening, you know what to do,you know how to help Get
(33:26):
outside, do the best you can, bewell.
Meredith (33:31):
And that's a wrap on our two-part adventure with the
American Eel and the everinspiring Chris Bowser.
A huge thank you to Chris forsharing his passion and
knowledge.
You can't help but walk awayfrom this episode with a whole
new appreciation for thesefascinating fish.
And before I let you go, let'sbreak down an important
(33:52):
scientific concept.
Chris mentioned bioaccumulation.
This refers to the gradualbuildup of substances,
especially contaminants likepesticides or heavy metals in a
living organism over time.
Since American eels arelong-lived and opportunistic
feeders that eat everything fromaquatic insects to fish,
(34:14):
crustacean and worms, they areparticularly vulnerable to
bioaccumulation.
This is a major issue for theirconservation and one of the
reasons why protecting ourwaterways is so important.
Bioaccumulation is something youhear pretty frequently with
fish, especially fish we eat.
It's why we are warned againsteating too much tuna, which
(34:36):
might have mercury built up intheir system and why from a
health standpoint, people aredissuaded from eating shark and
dolphin, but bioaccumulationisn't just restricted to the
water.
It occurs in every ecosystem.
And when things are in balance,it isn't a major issue.
But with microplastics,pollutants, pesticides.
Bioaccumulation can cause majorissues for organisms, especially
(35:00):
the ones that are higher up thefood chain.
So next time you hearbioaccumulation, that's what it
means.
And remember the American eel.
Now let's test your eelknowledge.
True or false?
Ankle eels include the Americaneel, the electric eel, and the
Moray Eel.
(35:27):
The answer is obviously false.
Angulate eels are the group ofeels that start life in the
ocean, migrate to fresh waterfor most of their lives, and
then return to the ocean toreproduce.
Electric eels, despite theirname aren't true eels at all.
They only live in South America.
More eels, on the other hand,are mostly marine, with few
(35:48):
exceptions.
And if you need a visual, justthink of Ursula Pets from The
Little Mermaid.
Here's another skill testingquestion.
Where do American eels livesbegin?
If you said the Sarcas, so see,you nailed it.
(36:10):
If not, don't worry now, you'llnever forget.
Chris is a fabulous storyteller,and his story about traveling
the world to see different eelsreminded me of how birding has
completely changed the way Itravel.
I can't take a trip withoutchecking eBird first to see what
species might be nearby, andit's becoming a bit of a running
(36:32):
joke in my family.
My husband even mentioned it inhis wedding vows, and while he's
not a birder himself, he humorsme and has an incredible eye for
spotting birds.
So I love it when he comesalong.
Now, whenever I go somewherenew, I am know.
I'm bound to see new species.
In fact, I have an upcoming tripto Belize, and my top target
(36:54):
bird for this trip is the whitecollared mannequin.
I'll let you know how it goes,but fingers crossed for a lifer.
Now, if you enjoyed thisepisode, don't forget to
subscribe and leave us a review.
It helps rarefied reach evenmore people who care about
protecting our planet's rarespecies.
And as always, you can follow uson Instagram at rarefied pod and
(37:17):
sign up for our newsletter onour website for updates and
sneak peaks at upcomingepisodes.
Until next time, get out thereand explore the wild, because
every species has a story andevery one of us can make a
difference.
I'm your host, Meredith Meer.
Thank you for listening andhappy trails.
In every stream, in every tree, a story lives, a
legacy.
Let's listen close, let's take astand, to keep the wild across
the land.
In every stream, in every tree,a story lives, a legacy.
Meredith (00:23):
Welcome.
You found us again and theadventure continues.
This is rarefied, the podcastwhere we learn to love some of
our rarest and most imperiledspecies.
I'm your host Meredith Meer, andif you thought part one of our
deep dive into the American eelwas fascinating, just wait.
Because today we're really gonnablow your mind.
(00:43):
Okay.
Last time we uncovered theincredible journey of this
mysterious, magical, and yesmucusy creature, but now it's
time to talk solutions.
What can we do to help?
What are the myths out thereabout American eels?
And most importantly, what wouldan eel say if they had the stage
at a TED Talk?
To help us answer thosequestions, we are once again
(01:05):
joined by the amazing ChrisBowser.
Chris is the educationcoordinator for the N-Y-S-D-E-C
Hudson River Estuary Program andthe Hudson River Research
Reserve in partnership with theWater Resource Institute for
Cannell University.
He also teaches theenvironmental science at Mars
College and has previouslyworked with the United States
(01:27):
Peace Corps and the Hudson RiverSLU Clearwater.
So let's dive back in and pickup where we left off, because
trust me, you're gonna wannahear this.
I think we've covered like a lotof the threats, but what people
can do to help.
I feel like this is a goodsegue.
(01:49):
Is it like, is there Marinecertifications, like, you know,
there's a lot of seafoodcertifications for sustainable
seafood.
Is that something.
That people, is it, does italready exist for eels?
Is it something people should belobbying for?
Or it's also tricky because likeyou said, a lot of people in
(02:09):
North America, at least on whereI'm from, it's going to be in a
restaurant likely where you'reeating it.
So it's hard to, you know,unless it's on the menu.
Bowser (02:20):
yeah, they're, I don't know of a certification
specifically for eels, butthey're are quite a few
certifications like seafoodwatch and stuff like that for,
for seafood.
I have, I have been that guy,that annoying guy in a
restaurant that has said, excuseme, can you find out where this
fish comes from?
Or excuse me, can you, can, canI see the packet that this eel
came from?
(02:40):
I have been that guy.
And just because I'm curious andI want people to know I'm
curious just to, just to keepthat conversation going, Hey,
where did this eel come from?
I want to know.
Cause I think there, you know,there's, there's.
There's a wide variety.
I think that things that, thingsthat people can do is, is, is
going to sound really like Iwanted something more
(03:01):
interesting than this, but,here's the deal.
Eels are found everywhere,anything you do to help your
environment is also helpingeels, and it's helping eels
everywhere! Because an eel that,an adult eel that leaves the
Hudson River and lays its eggs,Her babies may end up in
Venezuela or Mexico or Georgiaor Virginia or Maine or
(03:25):
Labrador, you know, or Ontario.
So
Meredith (03:29):
Okay.
Bowser (03:29):
are They are mixing and matching everywhere.
So, all of the things, therecycling more, the consuming
less, the thinking aboutrenewable energies, all of those
things that feel like, oh mygod, we've been hearing these
lessons forever.
Well, yeah, that's because theywork.
It's sort of like with personalexercise.
(03:51):
We all want to glom onto a dietand an exercise regime, but
really, we all know, right?
Like, watching what we eat andexercising more is what it comes
down to.
It's the same thing with eels.
care of your environment, makinggood choices, consuming less,
just producing less waste, andgetting outside more, all of
these things help eels.
(04:11):
If you happen to live somewherethat has a community science
project, it could be the eelproject here in the Hudson
Valley, but it could besomething else that's looking
at, like, weather conditions orwater quality or, or other
species of birds and insects andanything else.
involved in those.
Get involved in science.
Start to learn, you know,increase your own scientific
(04:32):
literacy so you can understand,you know, hey, this is what's,
this is what's going on.
I think, I think when I thinkabout the EEL project yes, it's
been great that we've been ableto collect data and we have this
great partnership with theAtlantic States Marine Fisheries
Commission.
But honestly, it's also been ahuge success in the hundreds or
thousands of years.
thousands of people that haveput on those rubber pants that
(04:54):
have gone out into the water andthat have like had this positive
connection with theirneighborhood, their stream,
their friends and their eels.
And like that community sciencepiece is absolutely as big a
success as any of the, the, thedata science parts that we've
(05:16):
been able to accomplish.
So I think however way youinteract with the environment,
keep interacting with thatenvironment or find new ways to
keep doing it.
Meredith (05:27):
And if you don't have an eel, community science
project near you.
There's also, I mean, in theStates, it's still Tread
Unlimited.
Here it's FreshwaterConservation Canada, and they do
a lot of dam removal or theyadvocate for a lot of dam
removal.
Bowser (05:43):
Mm
Meredith (05:43):
there might be a project in your area that might
help the, you know, a littlemore directly if you're like,
Oh, I want to feel like I'mhaving more of an immediate
impact than, you know, waitingfor that weight loss of good
diet and recycling.
Bowser (05:57):
understand.
I get it.
I get it.
Meredith (05:59):
Yeah.
Bowser (06:02):
Yes, there are.
And wherever you are, there aregoing to be ways that you can
interact more with theenvironment, you know, wherever
your listener finds themselves,I'm sure.
that there's something nearbythat they can, they can find
their way towards.
If, and by the way, if youhappen to be in New York, check
out the, the Department ofEnvironmental Conservation's
(06:24):
website, basically DEC.
gov.
And you'll, I'm sure you can goon a lot of journeys between,
you know, fisheries and hikingoutside and getting involved in
water quality.
There's a lot of cool, coolaccess ways.
Mmm.
Meredith (06:42):
you know, on the Eastern side of the continent,
like, and well, really NorthAmerica, we're really blessed
with our rivers and how manyrivers we have.
And nobody is far from a riverhere.
So.
Bowser (06:54):
is so true.
I'm, I'm blessed all, I'mthankful every single day for
the rivers that we have.
Oh, you are correct, Meredith.
Meredith (07:04):
And you've talked quite a bit about the Community
Science Project.
You've been able to, I'mguessing you still get out to
help train or to be with thecommunity scientists or, or your
community members.
Do you have any favorite or likea really fun memory that like
keeps you going in between fieldseasons?
Bowser (07:24):
I absolutely, so yes, I get out all the time and, and,
and I, and I, and I try reallyhard to like get all of my
administrative stuff done ninemonths out of the year so that
for three months out of theyear, I can get out and do as
much healing as I can.
It like right now for the nextthree months is like eel
central.
(07:45):
I also, I'm a, I'm just a nerd.
I don't care.
I love eels there.
I've said it.
And I don't even go on regularvacations anymore.
I don't go on vacation tovacation.
I like go on vacation.
I'm like, okay.
What eel species can I see now?
Hmm, let's see.
So, so I, you know, you'reasking me about what keeps me
(08:06):
going.
I just had a great, great, greatexperience.
I
Meredith (08:11):
Silence.
Bowser (08:21):
in Chella, which is a really great city to walk
around.
You can see like the Phoenicianinfluence, the Roman influence.
It's like a almost like a openair museum.
And in one corner of the ruins,they have this pond.
And I had read about this pond,this like bricked in pond called
the eel pond.
And the legend was that forhowever many years, I don't know
how many years.
Yeah.
(08:42):
People would go and and thereare magic eels that live in this
pond and they will be you couldfeed them hard boiled eggs and
Depending on who you talk to,there are different blessings
that that would bestow upon you.
of course I go there, and I'mthere with my two friends, and
we're looking in the pond.
See any eels?
There's little minnows.
I don't see any eels.
No, no.
Five minutes go by, nothing.
(09:04):
I happen to have a, an egg andcheese, half an egg and cheese
sandwich in my pocket that Ihadn't, that I hadn't finished
for breakfast, and I said, eh,let me just bring this with me.
So I put a little egg in thepond, just bloop, drop it in
there.
Wait about a minute.
And this beautiful two and ahalf foot eel, just this gray
ghost slowly comes out andnibbles the scrambled egg and
(09:26):
then slowly goes right back intothe rocky crevice.
Oh, it's great.
And there's, you go, you, youlook across the world and
there's, there's incredible,incredible cultural stories and
legends and customs that have todo with Eels, a little island in
(09:48):
Ireland off off of Galway in ashear, this tiny little rocky
island of the island is a mat isa well if you know the story is
if you go to the well and youwalk around the well seven times
and you look in and you see amagic eel, you'll be blessed
with With vocal abilities forthe rest of your life and I went
(10:10):
there on vacation I didn't seethe eel, but darn it.
I I still think i'm blessed withvocal abilities So i'm gonna i'm
gonna i'm gonna credit that tothe the the the well of enda on
in a sheer You can look it upand then lastly, but it's not
all just stories.
So I was also in In southernIndia and in Kerala, Trivandrum,
(10:33):
and I met up with a scientistthere, Dr.
Biju Kumar, and we went andtalked with the local eel
fishermen and we started talkingabout why are eels important.
eels have, to, to, to, to Dr.
Kumar's people, eels have greatMedicinal values that sometimes
kids would be fed if they gotsick particularly for asthma.
(10:54):
A little bit of eel slime.
Remember we started talkingabout slime?
Eel slime would be mixed withflour to make like a little, a
little dough ball that you couldfry up and eat.
And that supposedly helps withasthma.
And there's lots of differentstories of eel skin helping out
with arthritis and other things.
So you start.
You start going around the worldand these anguillid eels, these
(11:18):
nearly magical animals thatmigrate and hide and appear and
disappear and travel, right?
We are, they are pretty magicalcultures all over the world have
been.
connections with eels, and soit's, it never ever ends the
(11:39):
fascination with this animal.
Meredith (11:42):
I mean, I'm fascinated.
Bowser (11:44):
Oh, they're great.
They're awesome.
Meredith (11:46):
I'm, I'm actually going, well, you seem very well
traveled.
You've seen a lot of eels.
Bowser (11:52):
If there's eels, I want to get now.
I'm not well traveled enough.
There's still too many eels.
I did.
I got to get out and see, but,but hopefully I got some decades
left.
We'll see what happens.
Meredith (12:00):
And before we get into our rapid fire, hopefully you
still have time for that.
Bowser (12:04):
Do.
If you do.
Meredith (12:05):
I do any success stories that you want to share
from your program or about theeel, like a little bit of hope.
Bowser (12:14):
Yeah, I want to give you know what I want to say is a
success story is I think all ofthe great people who have also
fallen in love with eels andsort of like use this to kind of
promote science literacy andenvironmental education and eel
monitoring.
And so like, I want to just, Ihave so many like eel heroes
(12:37):
that I just want to like reallyhighlight like, Caitlin Gannon
at the Jacques Cousteau ResearchReserve in New Jersey, who
started her own eel project inSouthern New Jersey, but that's
not, let's, let's just love NewJersey for a minute.
My colleague, Isabel Stanette isworking with teachers and
educators.
Like on, on an eel project innorthern New Jersey, which is
(13:00):
fantastic.
Former eel project volunteer, JiSun Reiner, is doing eel
monitoring on the island ofNantucket.
And so, and I love it whendifferent colleagues keep in
touch with me, even if they'renot involved with eeling.
high school volunteers or, or,or former, former community
(13:21):
volunteers that are telling meabout the different sort of
environmental projects thatthey're working on or they're
volunteering on.
I just love that it's allconnected.
So like the success stories Ithink are, yes, about the eels.
I'm glad that we've caught allthese eels and we put them above
dams.
That's a huge success story.
I'm glad that here in the HudsonValley, my colleagues.
(13:43):
have worked on dam removals andreconnecting streams here in the
Hudson Valley, but I am reallyproud of all of the people who
are doing great things.
Martise Shauna, you know who youare and you know that you're
doing awesome things.
Aiden, Gracie, thank you for allthe great work you do.
I just got to give shout outs,sorry, they may not ever even
(14:04):
hear this, but I want thosenames to be there.
I wish I could, I wish I couldjust keep littering off names.
Meredith (14:10):
Well, I think that's one of the really impactful
things about community scienceand these programs is that it is
that outreach, right?
Like one individual can only,you know, there's only so many
working hours, only so manywaking hours, you, you're
limited in your impact.
But when you start Impactingothers and opening other
(14:31):
people's eyes of your impact andthe impact of your program can
just multiply.
Bowser (14:38):
Well, that's one of the great things, too, about working
with students and, and workingwith school systems.
And, and if there are anyteachers who are out there we
actually have on our, on ourwebsite at Herner.
org, and I'll, I'll give you thelink, Meredith, to put in the
show notes.
We actually have a whole bunchof eel lesson plans that you
can, you can basically bringinto your classroom, whether you
have access to a stream or not,there's really, really
(15:00):
interesting, interesting things.
And, and we work with a lot ofgreat teachers you know,
teachers who have volunteeredwith us before.
I'm thinking of, of Miss Sagan,you know who you are, Miss
Bauman, you know who you are,who are who are basically
taking, hey, you know, I, onceupon a time, I was involved in
this project, and now yearslater, I'm a teacher, and that's
that multiplying effect thatyou're talking about.
(15:22):
So if, if you have young peoplein your lives, or teachers that
you know, or that you are we'vegot plenty of resources.
No matter, you don't have to bein New York either to do this.
This is applicable to anywhereon the East Coast.
Oh boy,
Meredith (15:36):
Well, on that note, I think it's time to go into rapid
fire.
Okay.
And the first one, I didn't evengive you an advance, so I'm
being really mean, but do youhave a favorite fact?
Or I, well, how do you getpeople to go from ew to ew with
eels?
Bowser (15:56):
so, so that's just, that's just a matter of hands
on.
That's a matter of like gettingin the stream, holding on to an
eel, and actually seeing it inyour hand and realizing.
I guess my, my favorite fun factin that is that I want to make
this really clear.
American eels, the eels that wehave in the continental United
States are not electric eels.
(16:16):
Electric eels live in a fewfreshwater rivers of South
America.
They exist, but not here inNorth America.
That's my, that's my importantfact.
How about that?
I'll give you that one.
Meredith (16:29):
That's very important.
So people can be a little
Bowser (16:32):
will not get shocked by eels here.
Meredith (16:35):
will you get bit?
Bowser (16:39):
It is possible to get bit by a larger eel.
I have to say, it happens very,very rarely.
Eels do not really like to bitepeople.
But it can happen and also I'll,we'll stick with bites for a
second.
You, you talk about like hiddentalents or superpowers later.
One of the cool things abouteels that they do is they can
(17:00):
corkscrew.
They can, they, they, you know,most, most, most fish will only
eat what they can fit into theirmouth.
Eels, what they can do is theycan actually bite onto something
and then they can use theirmuscles to spit.
like a drill and basically spinthat bite full like a, like a,
(17:20):
like a corkscrew out of thatbody or that bigger piece of
meat or whatever and swallowthat.
And if you go online, you cansee videos of this happening.
amazing stuff.
Meredith (17:33):
That is wild.
Bowser (17:35):
It is pretty wild.
Yeah, it's pretty cool.
Meredith (17:38):
What do you think is the biggest myth about this
animal?
Is it that it's electric?
Bowser (17:43):
That is the biggest myth, but I'm gonna say, I'm
gonna say something that somepeople would think is a myth,
but isn't.
And so this is like the antimyth maybe?
Is that what
Meredith (17:51):
Yeah.
Bowser (17:52):
It's that eels can crawl out of the water and travel over
land.
And the truth is, they can.
They can actually, long as it'slike a wet night, and they can
keep their skin damp, they candiffuse oxygen through their
skin, and actually do prettywell out of the water for short
(18:13):
periods of time, so that you canfind eels, like little eels
traveling upstream and trying toget above dams, or larger eels
that may be on their waydownstream.
can travel out and slitherthrough wet grass around dams or
streams or other barriers.
So it is possible to find eels.
(18:34):
In fact, a friend of mine foundan eel in her driveway that was
probably had left a farm pondand was slithering down towards
the Hudson River on a wet nightand that eel was 46 inches long.
One of the biggest eels I'veever heard about here in the
Hudson Valley.
That was years ago.
Meredith (18:54):
Okay, so the mucus really is a superpower because
I'm assuming that's what helpsalso keep them
Bowser (18:59):
You
Meredith (19:00):
to breathe.
Bowser (19:00):
Yeah.
The mu yeah, and the mucus comesin there.
I'm telling
Meredith (19:03):
Yeah.
Bowser (19:03):
is the way we'd all be better covered with mucus.
Meredith (19:06):
And we actually didn't talk about how big do an
American eel, how big can theyget?
Bowser (19:11):
You know, if we see, if we see a, a three foot American
eel, we're like, whoa.
That thing's huge.
Probably state records, as youstart to look around, you can
see records of like five or sixfeet.
that's for the anguillarostrata, the American eel.
(19:31):
There are other species of eelsthat get even bigger, like the
long finned eel in New Zealand,or the great mottled eel in
South Africa.
We're talking about eels gettingto six, seven feet long.
They get they can get reallybig.
Meredith (19:51):
They're giving their ocean brothers some, a run for
their money at that point.
Bowser (19:56):
I guess someday I want to see one of those eels.
Oh, I would just love to hug it.
Meredith (20:01):
That would be at a little extra slime, maybe with
that hug.
Bowser (20:03):
I can take it.
Meredith (20:06):
And if the American eel were to give a TED talk to
humans, what do you thinkthey're going to say?
What's the title?
Bowser (20:14):
The talk would be humans, consume less, put less
pollution out there.
What's with this microplastics?
What's with all of these carbonemissions?
Like, even if you don't like usanimals.
Think of yourselves.
Meredith (20:33):
Yeah.
Bowser (20:33):
what their TED talk would be.
It's like humans.
Think about you, like, like beenvironmentally conscious, not
for the pandas and the whalesand the redwoods, be
environmentally conscious foryou, for your economy, for your,
for your ski slopes and yourmaple syrup and everything you
love about where you live.
(20:54):
Think about things.
Just, just see how it's allconnected.
We're all in this together.
This is not as divisive as itneeds to be.
Meredith (21:02):
Oh,
Bowser (21:02):
That's what the TED Talks would be.
Meredith (21:04):
we need that Ted talk.
Bowser (21:06):
We do.
Meredith (21:06):
also really random.
Do you think, is there acorrelation?
If somebody were, do you thinkstatistically between when maple
syrup starts running and whenmeals come back?
Bowser (21:18):
That's a really Meredith, Meredith, Meredith.
I now you've just this.
That's a perfect scientificquestion right there.
That is great.
Meredith (21:27):
so random?
Bowser (21:28):
it's funny because I have a colleague who sits next
to me and he maple syrups athome.
And, and he's, he literallybrought me some syrup today, and
the eels are just arriving now.
Your, your phenologicalinstincts are great.
In other words, your, your ideasof seasonal change are on the
(21:49):
money.
Meredith (21:49):
Thank you.
I also was out helping my dadwith maple syrup this weekend.
So it's, it's top of mind.
Bowser (21:55):
I love this.
I love this.
Meredith (21:57):
And what's the been the most surprising thing?
You found working with eels.
Bowser (22:03):
That's a great question.
I think I was just so surprisedabout, I mean, I can literally
remember being surprised abouttheir life cycle, being
surprised because it, and thesurprising part, like if, if I
think of it from like anevolutionary point of view, it's
kind of like, well, how did thiswork out?
Like, how does seems reallydifficult?
(22:24):
Being born in the ocean and liketraveling to shore and then like
living for decades like thereare fish species that hatch in
May or that that hatch in Apriland are breeding by like August
or September and might breed acouple times in a year like it's
(22:45):
just like the biologist in me orthe evolutionary ecologist in me
is like How does this?
How did this, who thought, whocame up with this,
Meredith (22:55):
Yeah.
Bowser (22:55):
from an kind of way.
It's like, how did this happen?
And, but it's been happening along time.
You can go to, you can go to theMuseum of Natural History in New
York and you can see an eelfossil that dates from the, the,
the time of the late dinosaurs.
So it's, they're doing it.
Meredith (23:13):
They've had a long time to evolve to get this
weird.
Bowser (23:16):
Boy, they've had a, that's a good, that's a good
tagline.
We've had a long time to evolveto get this weird.
Meredith (23:21):
Yeah.
Bowser (23:21):
that.
Meredith (23:23):
And if the eel were to have a super power, what is it?
Bowser (23:28):
Survival.
Meredith (23:29):
Hmm.
Bowser (23:30):
Survival.
Survival.
Ice ages come and go, you know,people come and go meteorites
hit the earth oceans change.
I mean, remember, this is, thisis enhanced, the, the, the, the
map of the continents havechanged over time.
And ezeals.
on trucking.
(23:51):
And, and so I hope that we ashuman beings are a part of their
survival, just like they, Ithink, are a part of our
survival.
So
Meredith (24:00):
How tragic would it be that, you know, they've survived
all that calamity and humans arethe one calamity they can't
withstand.
Bowser (24:08):
not on my watch,
Meredith (24:09):
Yeah.
Agreed.
Okay.
Since you work with so manypeople, you've got to have a
good story for this.
What's the most hilarious orunexpected reaction you've
gotten from people when you tellthem what you do for work?
Bowser (24:24):
So I'm actually going to, I, this, this, this is okay.
This is a true story.
I bring an eel to New York citya, in a five gallon bucket.
And I gotta, I gotta, I'mwalking through New York City
with a five gallon bucket and aneel on there, and I have a
little battery powered bubblerto bubble oxygen into my bucket
(24:45):
to keep the eel handy.
The eel would be fine evenwithout it, but I want the eel
to be happy.
I run out of batteries.
So on the ride home, I'm on acommuter train, New York City,
if you've ever taken the MetroNorth, it gets packed in there.
I got a seat on the train, I gota bucket between my feet, the
train is packed, people arefiling in.
(25:06):
I want to give my eel someoxygen, so I start blowing into
the air tube.
So I'm this weirdo sitting therewith a bucket on the floor and a
tube coming out and I'm blowinginto the tube.
And this, this, this woman aftera long day, she's well dressed,
obviously an executive or, youknow, some, a businesswoman,
sits down next to me.
(25:26):
one look at me, and I'm thereblowing, and I go, I got an eel
in the bucket.
She doesn't blink.
She just stands right up, andjust keeps on walking.
Meredith (25:38):
I think that's
Bowser (25:39):
oh.
Meredith (25:39):
very impressive.
Like the amount of oddity youhave to present to disturb a New
Yorker to change seats on acommuter.
Congratulations.
Bowser (25:51):
You're darn right.
You're darn right.
Yep.
Yep.
Meredith (25:55):
Okay.
I love that image.
Now if the American Eel were towin a competition, maybe not a
beauty contest, but who knows,what do you think their title?
What category are theydominating?
Fastest?
Smartest?
Toughest?
Bowser (26:11):
Most surprising.
It's got the biggest Delta.
It's got the biggest dealt.
It's got the biggest efficiencyrating of like perceived
reputation to Actual fact, like,if if you want, maybe, like, a
sports analogy, would be,biggest underdog, right, like,
(26:31):
eels?
Ew! Gross! Horrible! Disgusting!I hate them, and then when you
get to the truth of eels it isway up here.
So they are the biggestunderdog.
They get the highest efficiencyrate of surprising actuality.
Meredith (26:49):
Okay, love that.
And then, I mean, we've talked alot about how weird they are,
but is there a feature orbehavior, other than the
corkscrew, because I think itmight be hard to top that, that
makes you, when you look at theeel, go, wow, nature is so cool.
Bowser (27:05):
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
So, thank you, Canada, for doingsome great eel research.
In 2014 a study was published.
May was 2015.
A bunch of eels were released,were tagged, were given
satellite tags.
They were caught in the St.
Lawrence River.
And they were released from NovaScotia to give them a little
(27:25):
head start.
So, thank you Maritimes.
Most of the eels got eatenalmost immediately.
30 eels, of them were justeaten.
Because, you know, you
Meredith (27:36):
Okay.
Okay.
Bowser (27:55):
to the Sargasso Sea.
It was a silver eel.
So this one eel made in cr.
If you look at a map of it, itgoes do south from Nova Scotia.
Then it goes do east towardsEurope.
Then it stops and it goes dowest for a little bit and then
turns again.
It goes do south, and thecompass directions it's
Meredith (28:17):
Silence.
Bowser (28:37):
in birds that have trace elements of magnetite or other,
or other, you know magnetictrace minerals that may allow it
to, to basically cue into theEarth's magnetic fields.
And this one eel in this studyis one of 30 that made it, is
just, was just this like mindblowing I, I say in quotes,
(29:01):
because you know, it's science,so we want to be careful about
that word.
But this mind blowing, strongsuggestion that eels have this
magnetic compass that allowsthem to travel thousands of
miles after decades.
They haven't, this, this eelhadn't been in the Sargasso Sea
or the northern or the AtlanticOcean for years, maybe decades.
(29:24):
And it was something in it washelping it get back there.
Amazing.
Meredith (29:29):
That's so cool.
Cause yes, I'm, I'm a truly abird nerd.
So we think a lot aboutmigration, spring migration is
happening,
Bowser (29:37):
Yep.
Meredith (29:37):
lots of fish migrate as well.
And very cool to think aboutthere actually might be some
sort of convergent evolution orsomething that's allowed them to
pick up similar magnetic fieldsor something that's fascinating.
Bowser (29:51):
awesome.
Oh, golly.
I want to, yes, just amazing.
Meredith (29:55):
And you've come out on this podcast saying you love
eels.
You've stated it boldly.
Bowser (30:00):
Hmm.
Meredith (30:01):
But what was your aha moment that you knew you
actually wanted to work withyields?
Bowser (30:08):
I'm so glad you asked because I actually can trace it
back to an ah ha moment.
Like, like, I actually have themoment.
I, I had the great honor ofworking for a group called the
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater.
And the Clearwater is a big 100foot wooden sailing boat that's,
that's called the Classroom ofthe Waves.
We would take, we would takegroups of 20 or 30 or 40 people
(30:32):
out of it at a time, sometimesstudents, sometimes members of
the public, and, and we'd sailaround and we could teach them
about the Hudson River with,with nets that we would put in
the river and pull up fish or,or, or water quality or talking
about history and maps.
It was, I mean, it's abeautiful, beautiful boat and a
great organization.
So one day We are sailing in NewYork Harbor.
(30:54):
And we put the net in the water,and the net comes up.
It's New York Harbor, so younever know what you're gonna
get.
And in that net are some fishand some this.
But there's also this toyrecreational vehicle.
This like toy plastic toycamper, you know about about a
foot long And you know that youwould put little little
(31:14):
characters in it's a little likea little Tonka truck and it's
covered With barnacles and seasquirts and anemones and
bryozoans Also, it's like it'slike a little mini coral reef.
It's been down there so long Soi'm picking this up as a member.
It was like a public sale.
So people of different ages andI'm new at being an
environmental educator.
(31:35):
This is very early in my careerand people are looking at me
with rapt attention.
They're just like, their eyesare huge.
Their mouths are gaped open.
And I'm like, I am crushing it.
I am so good at this.
They are, they are reallydigging what I have to say about
barnacles right now.
And then I notice.
Crawling out of the passengerwindow of the toy RV is this
(31:58):
slowly unspooling footlong greeneel that just slowly comes out
and lands on the deck.
And I'm People weren't listeningto me.
I was like a Charlie Browncartoon to them.
Like wah, wah, wah, wah.
They were just looking at thiseel.
And I was like, and then I wasfascinated by it.
(32:21):
It was like, Oh my God, thisfish was living inside this RV
for how long?
That was the moment that Iremember eels entering.
the forebrain of my existenceand, and, and like from that
point onward, were a part of mylife for to this very, very day.
Meredith (32:41):
Oh, that's, that's a great aha moment.
That's
Bowser (32:44):
was
Meredith (32:45):
could be like an aha, but I'm glad it was a spark for
you.
So,
Bowser (32:50):
great
Meredith (32:50):
Chris, I enjoyed this conversation so much.
Thank you for.
Donating your time and a littleextra here.
So I really appreciate it.
And I love, I love talking toyou about eels could do it all
day.
Bowser (33:02):
Thank You Meredith Well, if you ever find yourself on the
Hudson Valley in springtime Comeout healing with us and and this
goes for air for for everybodycheck out DEC gov for for more
stuff or maybe it's DC dot NYgov.
Sorry about that if I screwedthat up But anyway, every you
listening, you know what to do,you know how to help Get
(33:26):
outside, do the best you can, bewell.
Meredith (33:31):
And that's a wrap on our two-part adventure with the
American Eel and the everinspiring Chris Bowser.
A huge thank you to Chris forsharing his passion and
knowledge.
You can't help but walk awayfrom this episode with a whole
new appreciation for thesefascinating fish.
And before I let you go, let'sbreak down an important
(33:52):
scientific concept.
Chris mentioned bioaccumulation.
This refers to the gradualbuildup of substances,
especially contaminants likepesticides or heavy metals in a
living organism over time.
Since American eels arelong-lived and opportunistic
feeders that eat everything fromaquatic insects to fish,
(34:14):
crustacean and worms, they areparticularly vulnerable to
bioaccumulation.
This is a major issue for theirconservation and one of the
reasons why protecting ourwaterways is so important.
Bioaccumulation is something youhear pretty frequently with
fish, especially fish we eat.
It's why we are warned againsteating too much tuna, which
(34:36):
might have mercury built up intheir system and why from a
health standpoint, people aredissuaded from eating shark and
dolphin, but bioaccumulationisn't just restricted to the
water.
It occurs in every ecosystem.
And when things are in balance,it isn't a major issue.
But with microplastics,pollutants, pesticides.
Bioaccumulation can cause majorissues for organisms, especially
(35:00):
the ones that are higher up thefood chain.
So next time you hearbioaccumulation, that's what it
means.
And remember the American eel.
Now let's test your eelknowledge.
True or false?
Ankle eels include the Americaneel, the electric eel, and the
Moray Eel.
(35:27):
The answer is obviously false.
Angulate eels are the group ofeels that start life in the
ocean, migrate to fresh waterfor most of their lives, and
then return to the ocean toreproduce.
Electric eels, despite theirname aren't true eels at all.
They only live in South America.
More eels, on the other hand,are mostly marine, with few
(35:48):
exceptions.
And if you need a visual, justthink of Ursula Pets from The
Little Mermaid.
Here's another skill testingquestion.
Where do American eels livesbegin?
If you said the Sarcas, so see,you nailed it.
(36:10):
If not, don't worry now, you'llnever forget.
Chris is a fabulous storyteller,and his story about traveling
the world to see different eelsreminded me of how birding has
completely changed the way Itravel.
I can't take a trip withoutchecking eBird first to see what
species might be nearby, andit's becoming a bit of a running
(36:32):
joke in my family.
My husband even mentioned it inhis wedding vows, and while he's
not a birder himself, he humorsme and has an incredible eye for
spotting birds.
So I love it when he comesalong.
Now, whenever I go somewherenew, I am know.
I'm bound to see new species.
In fact, I have an upcoming tripto Belize, and my top target
(36:54):
bird for this trip is the whitecollared mannequin.
I'll let you know how it goes,but fingers crossed for a lifer.
Now, if you enjoyed thisepisode, don't forget to
subscribe and leave us a review.
It helps rarefied reach evenmore people who care about
protecting our planet's rarespecies.
And as always, you can follow uson Instagram at rarefied pod and
(37:17):
sign up for our newsletter onour website for updates and
sneak peaks at upcomingepisodes.
Until next time, get out thereand explore the wild, because
every species has a story andevery one of us can make a
difference.
I'm your host, Meredith Meer.
Thank you for listening andhappy trails.
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