Burra – eel 
in the language 
of the Gadi Gal

The eel is found in all parts of planet earth. They breed in the salt water, travel vast distances as hatchlings to eventually live in the bracken and fresh waters of estuaries and rivers 1000’s of nautical miles away and – decades later - move back to the salt waters of their birth to start the cycle all over again.There are many species of eel in Australia. The ones I like to draw are those that are local to the rivers, creeks, estuaries and wetlands along the east coast of NSW and Victoria.Two of particular interest are the Anguilla Australis and the Anguilla Reinhardtii.The eels that inhabit this part of the coast are the Anguilla Reinhardtii - a species of longfin eels which are sometimes called speckled longfin eels due to the black spotting along their adult bodies.The local Gadi word of this remarkable catadromous animal is Burra.Burra are known along the east coast and parts of the coastline of Aotearoa New Zealand, although some recognize this particular species is quite different to those across the ditch – in part – because of the uniqueness of each species spawning grounds. The Burra, it seems, are a regular visitor to the shores of our nearby cousins.We know the Burra migrates between the saltwater, bracken water and the fresh water – and vice versa - across their lives. The Burra moves over short tracts of land and recent obstacles like dams, storm water drains and filled swamps. They swim through the oceans for thousands of nautical miles to return to the place of their hatchling times to start the cycle all over again.They can live for 50 or more years and start their adult phase in the first decade of life.It is thought the Burra starts life in spawning grounds in the Coral Sea near New Caledonia in depths of over 400 meters, where their eggs soon float to the surface. With time, the transparent, compressed leaf shaped leptocephalus larvae are moved by oceanic currents while undergoing another physical transformation into their next stage of life – that of the glass eel. As they reach coastal waters after a journey of thousands of nautical miles, the glass eels become pigmented as they adapt to the lower salinity and enter the bracken estuaries. By this stage, the elvers have teeth and a stomach, begin to sexually differentiate, and commence their full migration into fresh water as young adults.Burra are highly resilient and teach us a lot about the environment, about who we are, and about how to adapt to the constant changes we are now facing.This series of prints show the resilience of the Burra, how they move at different times through the landscape and waterways and manage to thrive in hostile environments. They never forget where they come from and will return to that first place of their lives when the time is right.