One of nature's most incredible journeys has been solved by scientists.
Eels migrate from European rivers to the North Atlantic to breed for a single time, then die.
This final destination has been suspected for a long time.
Researchers used satellite tags to track the animals on the final leg of the route.
The information will help in the preservation of the critically-endangered species.
The first direct evidence of adult European eels reaching their spawning area has been found by the Environment Agency.
The journey will reveal new information about migration.
Changes to ocean currents caused by climate change and pollution are some of the dangers faced by the European eel.
Eel specialist at the Environment Agency, Dan Hayter, has been monitoring the eels in the River Blackwater in Essex for the past 20 years and has seen a decline in their numbers.
He said that they catch edwards here every year. Compared to the historic numbers, they're very low now, and there's been a decline since the 1980's.
Eels arrive on the European coast as tiny, fragile and transparent glass eels, having been washed across the Atlantic for two or three years.
They adapt to freshwater and mature in rivers until they are ready to swim back to life.
It has been difficult to study the migration of adult edwards from the ocean to the Azores.
Adult eels in the Azores have been tagged and shown to be able to swim all the way to the sargasso sea.
"We knew they could get as far as the Azores, but that final leg was just undiscovered country."
We were able to fill in the last part of the journey to the sargasso sea because we were able to tag edwards in the Azores.
Understanding the reasons behind their decline is dependent on unraveling the routes taken.
Scientists have been perplexed by the life cycle of the fish. The Greek philosopher decided that the eels came from the mud.
It was assumed that they were going to the sargasso sea, but until now there was no proof.
The journal publishes the research.
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