{"id":377355,"date":"2026-04-13T13:05:28","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:05:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377355\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T13:05:28","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T13:05:28","slug":"aussie-beachgoer-catches-glimpse-of-annual-phenomenon-with-a-tragic-end-spectacular","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/377355\/","title":{"rendered":"Aussie beachgoer catches glimpse of annual phenomenon with a tragic end: ‘Spectacular’"},"content":{"rendered":"

A lucky Aussie says he was in the “right place at the right time” to witness an incredible phenomenon taking place at a quiet beach<\/a> in Victoria this week.<\/p>\n

Warrnambool local and ex-mayor Michael Neoh captured the moment hundreds of short-finned eels started their annual 3,000km migration<\/a> to their breeding grounds in the Coral Sea.<\/p>\n

“It was amazing to be there in person,” Neoh told Yahoo News Australia. “It looked spectacular.”<\/p>\n

“It was such a clear day, clear water, and I saw them trying to get across the riverbank. It was difficult because a few of them tried to get into the ocean, but the wave surge pushed them back.<\/p>\n

He estimated there must’ve been “at least a thousand” eels waiting to cross from the Hopkins River mouth to the ocean, some over a metre long.<\/p>\n

The eels<\/a>, known as Kooyang to the Gunditjmara First Nations people, move from fresh water to the ocean at the end of their lives to breed.<\/p>\n

Lachlan McKinnon, fisheries scientist and eel expert, previously told Yahoo News, “no one really knows what triggers eels to do it”, and even which eels decide to go.<\/p>\n

“It’s likely a combination of their age and size, but there are seasonal triggers for them to migrate out to sea to go somewhere in the Coral Sea to spawn,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Eels<\/p>\n

Some of the eels were caught on the sand in between waves while trying to get to the open ocean. Source: Michael Neoh<\/p>\n

The migration is a one-way journey, with the eels dying from exhaustion<\/a> once their journey and breeding is complete.<\/p>\n

Eventually, their offspring make their way back to freshwater habitats in Victoria, NSW, Tasmania, New Zealand and the South Pacific to start the cycle again.<\/p>\n

“The ones that get back to the Hopkins River in Warrnambool<\/a>, some of them actually climb up a waterfall \u2014 the Hopkins Falls \u2014 to get back there,” Neoh said.<\/p>\n

“I guess it must be some innate urge to go back to their place of their origin.”<\/p>\n

He said he’d love to be present at the Hopkins River for the return of the juvenile eels, to see them climbing up the rocks.<\/p>\n

\"Left:<\/p>\n

Each year, thousands of short-finned eels make the one-way trip to breed. Source: Michael Neoh<\/p>\n

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