Mystery creatures filmed at Scottish waterfall identified as young eels crossing the Atlantic
A wildlife expert has revealed the identity of unusual creatures caught on video at a waterfall in the Highlands as young eels making a journey across the Atlantic Ocean.
Content creator Bekki, who posts online as Bekkisadventures, posted a video on Instagram showing small snake-like creatures wriggling along wet rocks at Rogie Falls near Strathpeffer, while wild swimming.
She shared the footage on Instagram, where it has since been viewed more than 290,000 times, asking followers to help identify the unusual animals.
At first, Bekki feared they might be leeches and said she was “worried” she had been in the water alongside them. However, many social media users reassured her that the creatures were harmless.
To find out exactly what they were, STV News contacted The Rivers Trust, which put the video to writer, broadcaster and river expert Will Millard.
Millard identified the creatures as elvers, juvenile eels migrating from the sea into freshwater rivers.
He said: “They have completed their migration as baby eels, and have travelled for two or three years across the whole of the Atlantic, pushing up through into their river of choice.
“Like any migratory fish species, even in a juvenile form, they’ve got to push their way up and over any obstacles they encounter.”
According to Mr Millard, eels have a special ability to remain out of the water so long as they remain damp and can undulate their bodies, allowing them to move across the ground.
The ultimate aim is to find a place with mud and still water where they can get settled and develop into adulthood.
He said: “When they are ready as adults, they will reverse the journey, make their way back down the Black Water back into the Atlantic, where they will travel to the Sargasso Sea, their breeding grounds just off the Canadian east coast.”
Mr Millard says it was promising to see elvers still able to make the journey across the ocean, as they face mounting pressures, including climate change and the slowing of the Gulf Stream.
“Seeing elvers come back in good numbers is good news, but they are still technically way down on where they should be.
“We need to be doing everything to reconnect our watercourses and rivers to make their journey as easy as possible.”
World Affairs Correspondent
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