Snorkeling for eels

Yesterday, the wife, kid and I went swimming and snorkeling in the Little Gunpowder River, just outside of Baltimore. We saw the usual assemblage of white suckers, smallmouth bass, blacknose dace, satinfin shiner, and longears defending their nests. We even saw some rainbow trout (the Gunpowder is a stocked catch-and-release trout stream).

As a lark, I decided to stick lay on my stomach and stick my head in the riffles. The water was just barely over my head, but the current was strong. I had to dig my feet in to keep from being washed away. What was neat, though, were the large number of American eel elvers living under the rocks. Every fourth rock or so that I turned over had a 4-5" eel living under it. The eels never swam away. Instead, they just burrowed themselves in the sandy substrate. I easily caught a few with a hand-held aquarium net, showed them to my son, who thought they were cool, and released them.

For me, it was interesting to see the eels in the microhabitat one usually associates with darters and madtoms.

Chris Scharpf
Baltimore

That is something I would like to see. American eels are amazing animals.

Check out these amazing eel photos:

http://www.glooskapa...eel gallery.htm

http://www.glooskapa....org/follow.htm

http://www.glooskapa...rg/follow 2.htm

Chris Scharpf
Baltimore

Those photos are amazing!