This kind of feels like nature’s version of the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Most of our encounters with seagulls happen when some idiot decides to feed them chips on the beach, causing a whole swarm to ruin an otherwise perfect day, but these birds deserve a lot of credit when it comes to what they’re able to chomp down in a bite or two.
We saw this one swallow an entire squirrel, another do the same to a rabbit, and now we get to see one of these strong bellied animals take down one of the weirdest creatures out there.
A family was taking a vacation in the Käringön area of Sweden’s west coast when they saw a seagull dive down into the ocean and snatch an eel before bringing it up onto a nearby dock.
Now I for one was not very familiar with eels before watching this video and assumed that most eels, at least the ones in the ocean, were electric, but according to Ocean Conservancy, that is not true.
Turns out, not everything we call eels are actual eels and scientists separate them into “true eels” and “electric eels”.
True eels are really just elongated fish, ranging from 2 inches to 13 feet. They primarily live in saltwater, but some of the over 800 species can traverse both salt and fresh water when looking for breeding grounds. They have extremely strong jaws and pack a powerful bite, but they rarely attack humans as they are nocturnal and prefer to stay hidden in rocks and sand.
Despite their name, electric eels are actually knifefish and are actually closely related to carp and catfish. They grow to around 9 feet long and 50 pounds and live exclusively in freshwater in South America (proving yet again that I don’t know nearly as much as I should). Oddly enough, they are air breathers so they breach the surface every 10 minutes or so to get oxygen. They do actually have the ability to create electricity and can deliver up to 600 volts if they feel threatened, which isn’t enough to kill most humans, but it sure would hurt.
Based on this information, we can conclude that this eel wasn’t electric and was actually on the smaller side, looking to be about a foot long, but I still wouldn’t call it bite-sized.
But the seagull had other thoughts and we get to watch it grab onto one end of the eel and start gobbling it down in one piece.
Kind of gross, but my goodness it’s impressive… I think Joey Chestnut would be proud.
Yet again, the insane world of wildlife proves to surprise us…
