The Opposite of Anadromous - An Eelogy
The word is Catadromous
just in case you need it for
your Final Jeopardy and if
I was writing rhyme, this is
where I’d throw in cantankerous
for Eels are a contrary lot, and
unlike salmon who spawn in
freshwater; eels spawn in the
ocean, the Sargasso Sea to be
precise, then the larvae catch
a ride on the Gulf Steam and
the elvers ascend rivers on both
sides of the Atlantic, where they
grow for twenty years or so before
the mature eels head downstream
to their faraway mating ground.
As a student working on the
Ottawa River, we’d always get
a few in the night seine hauls.
But now they’re on the Endangered
Species List, at least in part because when
heading downstream, the adults must pass
through a series of Hydro dams, where they
get chopped up by the turbines and while
changing to dear old Archimedes’ screw
could reduce the chopping, the mods
are too expensive, and other factors like
PCB’s, dioxins, and other nasty chemicals
might be involved factors as well or
maybe shifts on the Gulf Stream
with Global Warming have made it
harder for the larvae and elvers
to find their rivers and probably
it's all of the above - nobody really
knows and it’s all eels under the dam..
Copyright © D.W. Rodgers | Year Posted 2023
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