Friendly little 'monsters' of Napier's Loch Clive

All the eels in the pond in Clive Square, Napier, have names, according to Napier City Council gardener Odell Reynolds. Photo/Duncan Brown

While doubts clearly hang over the likelihood of a monster paddling the depths of Loch Ness there are no doubts about the existence of some aquatic occupants of a central Napier "loch".

And like the supposed Loch Ness monster they are slimy and have strange eyes and flat paddling fins.

Except they are a lot smaller. However, as a growing number of visitors to the Clive Square pond have been discovering, they are no less fascinating.

An eel (far right) swims in the pond in Clive Square, Napier. Photo/Duncan Brown

They are eels - plural.

According to one Facebook poster, "there's about eight in there".

Actually, there are believed to be six - and the largest one is called Horace.

"They all have names," Clive Square gardener Odell Reynolds said.

"My daughter named them - they are all different and we know which one is which."

While the eels have been capturing more attention lately they have never really gone away. "They've always been here but they'll be going soon - they hibernate at winter."

But they won't be going far.

The centre "island" is hollow and the eels tend to find spots under there to lie up until spring. They also head in there when council staff carry out maintenance and cleaning of the main pond.

"They're very friendly and they come to us when we go to feed them," Mrs Reynolds said, adding the creatures enjoyed a spot of leftover ham or luncheon which she provided on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

They were also a popular target for photographs, she said.

Especially when the cruise ships are in.

"Many [passengers] have never seen eels and like to get shots of them - they're quite an attraction."

So who put them in there? The answer, Mrs Reynolds said, was simple.

They put themselves in there, through the pond and park's drainage system which, as part of the whole citywide network, has links with creek and waterway drainage systems - at places where eels live.

Department of Conservation biodiversity ranger Dan Winchester agreed that was a very strong possibility.

Mrs Reynolds said she had arrived some mornings, after especially heavy rain, to see small eels by drains slithering across the ground.

In terms of how they got on with the pond's other occupants, goldfish, there were no issues. "The goldfish have really grown - they are huge now and they get on - they live side by side."

Mr Winchester said the eels, believed to be short-fin because they were multi-coloured, were no danger to anyone, although they could be tempted to have a little nibble at any little toes dipped into the water.

He said they could grow to a good size because they tended to live up to 80 or 90 years and the adults did not breed or spawn until late into their lives.

His only concern was that people spotting them might decide to feed them the wrong things.

Bread was a big non-no. "Like it does with ducks, it screws them."

But as Mrs Reynolds said, the friendly little monsters of Loch Clive Square were well fed with three square meals a week of food they liked and were doing just fine.