Get Ready: It’s Time for the Hudson Valley Eel Invasion

Every year, one of the most mind-bending natural events in the entire world happens right here in the Hudson Valley. Are you ready for the great eel invasion?

Migrations are one of nature's amazing feats of sheer will. From butterflies to Canada geese, countless animals make excruciatingly long journeys every year. It's not just animals with wings, however, that make these great treks.

Glass Eels in the Hudson Valley, NY

Glass eels are small ocean dwellers that are born in the warm waters of the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean (below). When they mature, they make a fantastic 1,000-mile journey through the ocean all the way to the Hudson River where they will spend nearly their entire adult lives.

Scenic Hudson and the NYSDEC Track Glass Eels Populations

Scenic Hudson shares that its height, roughly 10,000 glass eels make their way through the Black Creek Preserve in Esopus, NY to live in Hudson River tributaries every day. Volunteers use nets in Black Creek to catch, count, and release these impressive travelers.

Read More: Is a Mobster’s Treasure Buried in This New York Campground? 

About Glass Eels in the Hudson Valley, NY

The eels, which are born in the Sargasso Sea, only spend a brief time in their birthplace before travelling north to the Hudson Valley. The eels only grow up to two inches long, and can live between 20 and 30 years in Hudson River tributaries before they return to the oceans to spawn the next generation.

Get our free mobile app

There's always something happening in the waters and woods of the Hudson Valley, NY. From grocery-sealing bears to possibly car-eating porcupines, there's activity everywhere (do you know about the predator living under nearly every Hudson River bridge?). Check out what happened when a black bear visited the SUNY New Paltz campus below.