Eels were in focus for an Eastern Suburbs Friends of group in late October, as they hosted researchers from the Artuh Riley Institute in a citizen science survey that drew plenty of interest from people passing by in late October.
Locals around the waterways of Dandenong Creek were treated to some live action eel fishing as the community environment group hosted a citizen science event at the creek.
First Friends of Dandenong President Anthony Bigelow said the citizen-science survey really highlighted just how connected our waterways are.
“The short-finned eels we found in Dandenong Creek aren’t simply ‘local fish’ — they’re part of an extraordinary migration that threads through the Yarra Ranges, the Yarra system, Port Phillip Bay, and then thousands of kilometres out into the Coral Sea,” he said.
“When you see that in real time, it changes how you understand the creek.”
“What happens to water quality, habitat, or flow in one section doesn’t stay there — it ripples far beyond it.”
Using a type of electrofishing technique, the team from the Arthur Riley Institute found around six short-finned eels, measuring from 50 to 70cm, in a 20-minute survey at the creek.
Electrofishing stuns fish so they can be identified before returning them to the water.
Curious creatures, much is still not known about the native short-finned eels found across Eastern Melbourne, but they undertake a huge migration to a spot somewhere south east of New Guinea in the Coral Sea, some eels travelling over 3,000 kilometres to get there.
Their numbers have reduced quite significantly in many parts of the world due to habitat loss and migration barriers, and satellite tracking programs with organisations like the Arthur Rilery Institute can give out vital information on the movements of the eel.
Beginning their lives in the ocean, they are carried south by ocean currents, then as they grow begin to migrate into the estuaries.
Short-finned glass eels enter estuaries mainly during mid-winter to late spring, some passing through quickly and others staying awhile.
As the eels become sexually mature after some years, they commence a spawning migration – heading back to the ocean to start the cycle again.
On social media, the FFDC posted about the day and said it was quite entertaining for locals and made possible with assistance from Maroondah Council.
Strong advocates for the waterways of Melbourne, the First Friends of Dandenong Creek care for the creek in a number of ways, including community engagement.
The group won the 2021 Premier Sustainability Award for their short film, ‘The Eels of Dandenong Creek ’, celebrating the life-cycle of the eel and its importance to Australia’s Indigenous nations.
“Citizen science gives the community a front-row seat to that bigger story, and that’s where real stewardship begins,” said Mr Bigelow.
