{"id":801282,"date":"2026-05-16T19:58:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:58:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/801282\/"},"modified":"2026-05-16T19:58:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T19:58:20","slug":"local-fisherman-catches-rare-american-eel-in-the-chicago-river","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/801282\/","title":{"rendered":"Local Fisherman Catches Rare American Eel in the Chicago River"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/AmericanEelChicagoRiver-1024x683.jpg\" class=\"wp-block-post-featured-image\" alt=\"A local fisherman caught an American eel in the Chicago River\u2014it could signal big improvements to our ecosystem\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<a data-force-follow=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/secretchicago.com\/author\/elena-smentkowski\/\" rel=\"follow nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/1778961496_348_5e7e51bebcc538d8129d521052d57f8e9321552d82efc67239fb0d02c048e40c.png\"  class=\"avatar avatar-40 photo\" height=\"40\" width=\"40\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u00a0\u2013\u00a0<br \/>\n\t\t\t\tStaff Writer\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\u00a0\u00b7\u00a0<br \/>\n\t\t\tMay 16, 2026<\/p>\n<p>An <strong>eel in the Chicago River?<\/strong> Yup, <strong>you heard that right.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>One local fisherman\u2019s catch<\/strong> from the murky depths is <strong>making big waves across the Windy City. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s <strong>the science behind the discovery<\/strong> and <strong>what it means for our environment.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>River North resident <strong>Ben Gorahschenko <\/strong>was <strong>fishing on the evening of May 4,<\/strong> according to NBC Chicago, when he <strong>reeled in the unthinkable\u2014a rare American eel.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Gorahschenko <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/angler-makes-a-stunning-find-in-the-chicago-river-an-american-eel\/3936249\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.nbcchicago.com\/news\/local\/angler-makes-a-stunning-find-in-the-chicago-river-an-american-eel\/3936249\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_0\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">shared the find on Reddit<\/a><\/strong> in a post that quickly went viral. Other Reddit <strong>users chimed in<\/strong> to share their excitement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[L]egitimately something y<strong>ou should report to the Department of Natural Resources,\u201d<\/strong> wrote one user.<\/p>\n<p>As for just how rare it is to find an eel in the Chicago River, the <strong>last documented incident happened back in 2017, <\/strong>according to Friends of the Chicago River.<\/p>\n<p>An eel origin story<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"576\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/SargassoSea-1024x576.jpg\" alt=\"Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic Ocean\" class=\"wp-image-77012\"  \/>Photo\/Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<p>While an American eel in the Chicago River is <strong>extraordinary in and of itself,<\/strong> what\u2019s <strong>equally exciting <\/strong>is what the aquatic critter\u2019s presence <strong>suggests about the health of our waterway.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>American eels are an <strong>indicator species,<\/strong> according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.worldwildlife.org\/resources\/explainers\/natures-most-mysterious-fish-facts-about-fascinating-freshwater-eels\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.worldwildlife.org\/resources\/explainers\/natures-most-mysterious-fish-facts-about-fascinating-freshwater-eels\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_1\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">World Wild Life<\/a>, due to their <strong>migration patterns<\/strong> and <strong>susceptibility to habitat fragmentation. <\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The creatures <strong>originate<\/strong> from a <strong>remote region<\/strong> of the<strong> <\/strong>Atlantic Ocean<strong> <\/strong>known as the <strong>Sargasso Sea<\/strong>. From there, they <strong>travel between interconnected aquatic habitats<\/strong> across North America.<\/p>\n<p>Along the way, the animals face<strong> environmental obstacles<\/strong> like<strong> dams, water pollution,<\/strong> and other blockages. <\/p>\n<p>What the presence of eels means for the Chicago River<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"826\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ChicagoRiver20thCentury-1024x826.jpg\" alt=\"Chicago River during the early 2oth century\" class=\"wp-image-77013\"  \/>Photo\/Wikimedia Commons<\/p>\n<p>In essence,<strong> an eel <\/strong>swimming from the remote Atlantic <strong>to Chi-town <\/strong>shows that <strong>our waterways are becoming more <\/strong>wildlife-friendly.<\/p>\n<p>Organizations like the <strong>Metropolitan Water Reclamation District<\/strong> of Greater Chicago (MWRDGC) and <strong>Friends of the Chicago River<\/strong> have undertaken <strong>efforts to restore and purify the river in recent times.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>At the<strong> dawn of the 20th century,<\/strong> sewer drainage and <strong>industrial waste polluted the Chicago River<\/strong> in great quantities, according to the MWRDGC; thankfully,<strong> those days are behind us.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"643\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Chicago-river-1024x643.jpg\" alt=\"chicago in spring\" class=\"wp-image-33874\"\/>Source\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n<p>The MWRDGC notes that <strong>data show<\/strong>s<strong> steady improvement<\/strong> in Chicago River water quality <strong>over the past several decades<\/strong>. <\/p>\n<p>The <strong>return of wildlife like eels<\/strong> and other critters <strong>serves as testament.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cCatching [an American eel] is <strong>an actual measure that we know water quality is improving, <\/strong>becoming more hospitable to fish that should live here,\u201d said Margaret Frisbie, <strong>executive director of Friends of the Chicago River<\/strong> in 2017. <\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoriver.org\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"shortcode-outbound-link\" data-has-ga=\"true\" data-ga-type=\"click\" data-label=\"https:\/\/www.chicagoriver.org\/\" data-action=\"text_cta_2\" data-category=\"click_non_sales\">here<\/a> to <strong>learn more<\/strong> about <strong>how you can get involved <\/strong>in Chicago River conservation efforts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u00a0\u2013\u00a0 Staff Writer \u00a0\u00b7\u00a0 May 16, 2026 An eel in the Chicago River? Yup, you heard that right.&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":801283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,5386,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-801282","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-il","10":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116586028478771745","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=801282"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/801282\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/801283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=801282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=801282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=801282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}