The Eels!

 I have seen the eels!  Tuna - ā tātou taonga (not sure if I'm parsing the Maori language Te Reo correctly, but I'll go with that for now) are freshwater finned eels that are native to New Zealand.  

I was walking my bike along the river when I looked across the water and noticed a trio of people holding little pieces of something just a few inches above the water.  After watching them for only a few seconds I heard one of them gave a shrill, startled cry and saw them recoin from the a splash in the water.  An older Kiwi came up to the little group, probably giving them tips.  Eel tips.  I kept following the Otakaro-Avon river west, where it bends towards the botanical gardens (pictures of monkey puzzle trees and dahlias will be forthcoming).  I came to a boat dock that paralleled the water and noticed someone filming the water.  "Ah-hah, more eels!"  I thought.  Of course, that isn't a thing I get to think very often, so I immediately went down to the dock and peered into the water.

Behold!

In the lower left, beside the buoy look at the little eel faces.  Their eyes look blue, like little cataracts under the water.

I love them, but they are rather unsettling.  I don't know if I would have the bravery to feed them by hand, at least not after eyeballing their impressive underbite full of teeth.

I didn't really take the pictures with size comparison in mind, so let it be known that these tuna puppies were at least a meter long.