Every year, eels leave European rivers for a journey in a so-called "epic migration" to the North Atlantic's Sargasso Sea to breed for a single time, then eventually die.
However, a BBC News report said this final journey has long been suspected until, at present, there has been no direct evidence.
Ancient eel migration mystery unravelled https://t.co/vberluLFyH
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) October 15, 2022
By fitting eels with satellites, scientists have tracked the creatures in their last leg of the route. They then said the information would help conserve the critically endangered species.
According to the Environment Agency's Ros Wright, who led the study, this is the first time they have been able to track eels to the Sargasso Sea, and they are delighted to have the first direct evidence of adult European eels to reach their spawning area.
Their journey, the study lead added, will reveal information about eel migration that has never been known in the past.
