4
Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , April 18 , 2018
The eels return to the Quassaick Creek
By WAYNE A . HALL scribewayne @ aol . com
Wearing hip-high waders students from Newburg Free Academy slosh into chilly Quassaick Creek to count migrating eels , whose numbers are a marker for the Hudson River ’ s health and that of the creek ’ s connecting waters .
Eel numbers have been rising after some years of decline . Call it a guarded natural history rebound story . “ These amazing eels have migrated more than hundreds of miles from the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic ocean to reach this spot at the Quassaick Creek ,” says John Gebhards , of the Quassaick Creek Watershed Alliance , a watchdog organization for the Hudson River and Quassaick watershed .
That vast distance isn ’ t lost on Newburgh Free Academy student and volunteer eel counter Aidan DeMarino , who ’ s studying computer networking and cyber security . “ It ’ s amazing , the distance they travel !” he said . Now is the beginning of heavy movements by these remarkable fish into Newburgh ’ s Quassaick Creek and streams up and down the Hudson River .
Once into streams and lakes these eels will remain until they grow much larger and then swim back to the ocean where they will die in perhaps 20 years to 30 years .
On a brisk day eel counting volunteers lined up in waders and plunged into the rushing creek that passes under a highway overpass . The idea was to take measurements and note changes . Keeping track of this annual miracle of eels whose birth place means setting traps in the creek .
After a brief hold in the creek , the eels are on their way upstream into the interior wetlands where they will grow to large size – three feet long is an average .
So a small army of Quassaick Creek volunteers is already trapping eels in nets-to briefly count noses and then let the eels proceed to the back waters of Quassaick Creek that reach far into the back country ’ s many water bodies .
Volunteers are already finding and measuring small eels .
These fish need counting because we don ’ t really know enough about them or why exactly they ’ re numbers seem to be dropping .
Perhaps predators at sea take some . But many other hazards wait in the ocean .
Such as being scooped up by a trawler or eaten by another fish .
And when they return to their ocean beginning place that ’ s still unknown , these now dark eels will die in some of the deepest parts of the Atlantic Ocean where there is little light .
The state Department of Environmental Conservation and others are giving talks and advice to organizations about eels .
Says Rebecca Houser , a Hudson River Estuary Associate , “ for our young students this first hand citizen science is the kind of experience that may be the spark for a lifelong interest in protecting our wildlife and habitats .”
Soon these migratory eels swimming into the Hudson
Newburgh Free Academy students . Matthew Wasson , Aidan DeMarino , Morgan Stroud , and Catherine Dabbs help count migrating baby eels who swim to the Quassaick Creek every spring from the faraway Sargasso Sea in the mid-Atlantic Ocean .
will make a hard turn . Many thousands of these eels are hanging a hard left turn out of the river to get upstream into the back countries lakes and ponds where they will spend decades growing to several feet .
Chris Bowser , the state Department of Environmental Conservation ’ s DEC ’ s education coordinator for the Hudson River Estuary Program and Research Reserve knows the eel survival story “ will blow your mind .”
Over the rumble of and traffic from the bridge over the creek , he told Mount Saint Mary College volunteers why eels are so very marvelous .
“ Imagine you are two inches long and you come here to the Hudson River at the end of a 1000-plus-mile ocean journey . You ’ ve changed your makeup in the river . You ’ ve basically gone from a salt water creature and now you become a fresh water creature . Every cell in your body has to change . This is like some crazy cinematic CGI ( special effects ) movie .”
Then these baby eels , he said , “ will live in freshwater for years , growing to maybe three feet long . “ And then another crazy transition happens . They get the urge to go back out to sea to find the Sargasso Sea where they were born .”
There ’ s a lot more to the eel story , Howser says but the bottom line “ is everything wants to eat you ” at every stage of eel development .
Said Houser of the DEC , “ What we ’ re most excited about is we build a constituency of people who think eels are cool and think eels are worth saving . It ’ s an animal most people don ’ t think twice about .”
It ’ s a fish though with a lot of fans from Newburgh Free Academy , Mount Saint Mary College and the U . S . Military Academy at West Point and many other volunteers who all don waders and pitch in to count these baby eels who are almost transparent and have big eyes .
Says John Gebhards of the Quassaic Creek Watershed Alliance , “ we keep a log of all the counting we do on weekends .”
“ Their eyes grow very large when they leave here for the ocean as adults ,” says Lake . “ We think that ’ s because they ’ re going back to die in some place very , very deep .”
The eel volunteer helpers include a wide range of
Judy Kennedy
Continued from page 3
Cancer Research Fund Alliance describes as having a relative five-year survival rate of less than 50 percent . Kennedy underwent surgery and a round of chemotherapy followed . She traveled abroad for treatment in April last year .
Love for Newburgh
“ I believe this city has the greatest potential of all the cities in Orange County and across the river , too ,” said Kennedy in the Independence for Newburgh video . “ There ’ s the people power here .”
Kennedy has never been shy about expressing her love for her adopted city , which , none could argue , has seen the start of a cultural renaissance under her guidance . The mayor credited city residents for the progress . “ What I ’ ve seen is people who are willing to roll up our sleeves , work , volunteer their time and do the things they need to do ,” she said in the post . “ We just need to stick together .”
She cited decades of infighting that caused failures on many levels in the city . “ No matter who comes up with an idea , there are six groups against it ,” she said . “ Let ’ s find a way to have these discussions in a civil way , listening to the pros and cons … taking your time and then doing what ’ s really right .”
“ Find a way to cooperate with each other and keep going ,” she said . “ All boats rise together and all boats sink together .”