Longfin Eel Day Part 1

Wednesday was a very educating day. It was eel day. Wai Care Kate and Paul the fishman came to teach us about the special things the longfin eel does. Mrs Whitehead and Kea 1 invited all the other Intermediate classes to visit them to learn more about the longfin eel.  Here are some of our stories and observations.

We were met by Wai Care Kate, an expert from Wai Care. She explained to us about the conditions of streams, such as the Puhinui stream near us,  and how they can tell if it's a healthy stream or an unhealthy stream. Paul the Fishman, a longfin eel expert, told us some interesting in-depth information about the NZ longfin eel, about the Australian longfin eel and some background information about the shortfin eel. He shared amusing recounts about his encounters with this extraordinary creature, and more facts about how this endemic creature behaves.  I believe all of Huia 1 appreciated  Paul and Kate's time, as they have opened up our young brains to a new underwater realm.

Wai Care Kate told us about some of the conditions of some of the streams in estuaries in the Manukau area. We got to use the clarity tubes to see how clean the water is. It felt like looking through a telescope full of muddy water.

We got to pass around a life-size replica of the eels; they were immensely huge and fairly heavy. In the end, we got to look at the eels inside an aquarium.

We looked at some of the other classes' posters and projects and  some of them are amazing - people have put a lot of effort into them.

- We got to ask more questions about the amazing life cycle of the eels. I learnt that  no one has seen the longfin  eels' breeding ground yet.  (Cameron)

- I learnt that eels have scales that go in a herring bone pattern. (Alex)

- I learnt that to find out the age of longfin eel you have to kill it (euthanise it) and take out its ear bone and count the rings on it (like a tree). (DC)

- I learnt that when the eels are going to breed they go into the deep oceans near Tonga. (Karmveer)

- I learnt that the eels can't chew, they have to spin around like a crocodile. (Corbin)

- They rip their food and then swallow it, and they eat small eels. (Aaron)

- I learnt that the NZ longfin eel  comes back to NZ only, the short fin eels go other places as well.

- Paul thinks that the longfin eel's navigation is based on magnetic fields. (Cameron) 

- Eels will eat anything that will fit in their mouths (Lili)

Amber investigates a longfin eel, and a longfin eel investigates us.