WildView™

May 23, 2025

The Slimy Life Coach

- as seen by -

Samia Islam

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Researching the American eel (Anguilla rostrata) for the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Project TRUE program at the Bronx Zoo has been extremely rewarding and unexpectedly life-changing. After only a month of interacting with this endangered species in the Bronx River, I realized that the eel’s journey holds valuable lessons not just about nature, but also about life itself.

The American eel’s journey begins as an egg in the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean. The creature surrenders itself to the Gulf Stream, which carries it towards the coastal estuaries of eastern North America. With complete trust in the current to get it where it needs to be, the eel focuses on its own development; first into a transparent leaf-like leptocephalus and then into a glass eel by the time it reaches the estuaries. Despite being only two and one-half inches (five to six centimeters) long, the glass eel begins its uphill journey into rivers, climbing up dams and other obstacles that present themselves with quiet determination. As the eel travels upstream, it becomes more pigmented and transforms into an elver and eventually a yellow eel, which is the longest stage of its life. The eel settles into its habitat during this time, maturing into a silver eel to begin the arduous journey back to the Sargasso Sea to spawn and complete its life cycle.

What intrigues me most about the American eel’s long journey is that it manages to stay grounded in the present while still moving with purpose toward its final destination. Though the eel is driven to return to the Sargasso Sea, it does not rush. Rather, it embraces each stage by overcoming any associated challenges to develop and grow. The eel’s life serves as a reminder that although long-term goals give us purpose, it is really the journey and the way we navigate it that define who we are.

The American eel also demonstrates a deep trust in the forces outside of its control. Instead of expending energy resisting the current, the eel chooses to go with the flow and focus on its growth so that it is prepared for what lies ahead. The eel’s calm tenacity reflects what we humans often struggle with: releasing the desire to control the external world and instead focusing on our internal attributes to prepare for our next step. In that regard, maybe we could all benefit from being a bit more like the American eel–resilient, trusting, and always growing.

NOTE: The silver eel (above) was released back into the Bronx River shortly after obtaining its measurements for research purposes.

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