Mysterious eels wash up on Wasaga Beach shore

CTV Barrie: Eels discovered in Nottawasaga Bay An exotic eel has washed up on the shore at the mouth of the Nottawasaga River. Roger Klein reports

A mystery is unfolding in Wasaga Beach after hundreds of strange looking fish washed up on shore.

Hundreds of eel have recently washed ashore near the mouth of the Nottawasaga River.

The eels have a pointed nose and spots on the tail

“I have never seen this before,” said Rick Baldry with the Georgian Triangle Anglers Association. “This is something completely foreign to my eyes and probably everyone else's eyes around here.”

The eels have not been positively identified, but appear to be a type of peacock eel that are sometimes raised in aquariums. Those eels are native to the tropical waters in Thailand, India and Burma and can grow to be almost 40 centimetres long.

Baldry is concerned that somebody body must have released the eels into the wild and considering the numbers they must have reproduced too.

“How did they get here, that's the real concern,” he said.

On Thursday frozen samples of the eels were handed over to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry (MNRF) for detailed examination. Officials with the MNRF say this is the first known report of peacock eels in the Great Lakes.

According to the MNRF, the eels are not considered and invasive species because they are a tropic fish and they can't survive a winter here to establish a population

In the meantime, the Ontario Federation of Hunters and Anglers invasive species hotline has been notified.