Welcome
to the Elversphere.
Every year, when elver season begins, I enter what I call “The Elversphere”—an intoxicating world where observing the migrating elvers (baby eels) who make their way to so-called “Maine” after a long journey from their spawning grounds in the Sargasso Sea connects me to rivers, harbors, nocturnal escapades, fishermen, elver buyers and backers, conservationists, citizen science, policy, enforcement, artists, researchers, scientists, water, mud, and possibility.
The Elversphere is an invitation, a story, a film, a book, and a request.
An Invitation
Eels are on the move, at all phases in their life cycle. Every spring, glass eels/elvers/baby eels make their way into freshwater ecosystems up and down the Atlantic coast after being born in the Sargasso Sea. If you have a chance to get out at night at the end of April/early May, you’ll see them moving on the incoming tides.
A Story
After casually exploring the elver trade and eel migration for the past decade, I decided to formally commit to increased research and reporting this season, resulting in many nocturnal escapades. The scenes are many, the sources are rich, the elvers are thick, the angles are plentiful. My first elver related-story is due out in October 2024 (about a Passamaquoddy-led elver conservation initiative, in Down East Magazine, photos by Nolan Altvater).
Sign up for my mailing list for the story link and behind the scenes content.
A Film
In spring 2024, I started working on an experimental hybrid documentary about eels with filmmaker Eli Kao. We are in the development phase and seeking funds to further our eel-related explorations.
A Book
The elversphere is rich and extends beyond a story and a film. A book proposal is in the works. If you are an agent, an editor, or a publisher and you have the means to help bring such a book into the world, let’s talk.
A Request
Do you have stories about observing, fishing, eating, cultural practices, conservation, behavior, selling, buying, or admiring eels? Share below via this form, leave me your number, or find me on Signal (encrypted) and we can schedule an eel call.
Every spring until the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation crashes or I quit social media, you’ll find elver content on my Instagram @michelechristle.writer under the hashtag #elversphere.
