Birds of a Feather

After all, he was hardly the first person in history to form this particular interest. The topic on his mind had fascinated the likes of Aristotle and Pliny the Elder, it stumped Freud, and captured the imagination of the ancient Egyptians. And yet most people he encountered outside of work, they just viewed it as well a little strange. You see, Ernst was interested in eels. Specifically, he wanted to know how, where, and when they reproduced. This seemed innocuous as a question,

but it had troubled scientists for centuries. That's because for most of history, no one had ever caught a young eel or witnessed eels mating. The slippery creatures seemed to lack genitalia altogether, making sexual reproduction impossible. So then where did all the eels come from? Did they spring fully formed from the entrails of the earth as Aristotle suggested, or was there something else going on? Part of the mystery was solved in the eighteen seventies, when Ernst was

just a teenager. Scientists discovered that eels undergo several major metamorphosies throughout their life. Think of a caterpillar and a butterfly, or the face huggers and xenomorphs of the alien franchise that different stages looked like completely different creatures, but they were the same animal from different points in life. In the case of the European eels, they hatch as larvae, later transformed into small, translucent glass eels, and eventually become

the much larger yellow eels. It isn't until their final silver stage that the eels develop sex organs and become capable of mating. But here's the really strange parts and the thing that interested Earnst the most. Just before European eels mature into their final stage, they leave their homes in rivers, lakes, and lagoons and disappear into the ocean. Some will even travel thousands of miles across land or

straight up the walls of dams to reach saltwater. And this explains my early scientists struggled with the eel question for so long. All the eels capable of mating were somewhere deep in the ocean where no humans would encounter them. Where exactly they went to procreate was anyone's guests. But Ernst was determined to put the mystery to bed once and for all. Starting in nineteen oh four, he embarked on several marine expeditions in the Mediterranean Sea and the

Northern Atlantic Ocean. He trawled the ocean floor in search of larval eels and found that the older, larger specimens were always closest to the coast. They got smaller the deeper into the ocean he went, and he soon realized that the eels were leading him to a single origin point. It took him over twenty years of searching, but through trial and error, Ernst finally found what he was looking for.

A small section of the Atlantic Ocean known as the Sargasso Sea turned out to be the origin point for all European and American eels in the world. Along the way his understanding of the eel life cycle deepened, Ernst learned that eels can live for over one hundred years, and that's as they mature in gross sexual organs, their stomachs dissolve. Their final swim can cover a distance of six thousand miles, and during that time the eels survive

off their existing fat reserves, slowly starving to death. Scientists today believe that they die soon after mating, which makes sense with the lack of an opera's stomach. Strangely, the new larval eels that hatch from their eggs swim back to the same parts of the world their parents came from. How they know where to go is still a mystery. So Ernest's discovery didn't answer every question, and it actually created plenty of new ones. But the weirdest thing about

what he found might be this one unusual fact. That section of the ocean all the eels are coming from it just so happens to be the center of the Bermuda triangle. Some friendships withstand the test of time through life's ups and downs, and despite major differences, there are pairs whose bonds go down in history. Often these friendships are born out of unexpected circumstances, and that's how our story today begins. In eighteen fifty, a young woman named

Florence visited the city of Athens. As she roamed the Parthenon, she noticed some boys bullying a young girl. They made fun of her unusual appearance, but they didn't just call her names. It seems that they were going to hurt her. Florence hurried over to the scene and chewed the boys away. As she dusted the girl off, she tried to figure out who she was there with, and that's when she realized that this girl had no family and nowhere to live.

Florence wasn't the type to abandon someone in need. She was from a wealthy family and so she had plenty to give. She decided to take the girl back to her home country of Britain. The girl seemed happy to go with her, but there was more trouble on the horizon. They arrived back in Britain by ship, and the motion terrified the little girl. To add to that, the ship didn't carry any food that the girl could stomach. As

the journey went on, she began to starve. Meanwhile, Florence suffered from sea sickness, so she struggled to take care of the girl herself, and because others on the ship were uncomfortable with how different this girl was from them, Florence had no one to help her fortune. Florence worked as a nurse, and she was highly skilled at her job, so she managed to make herself well and then found a way to feed the girl, and finally they arrived in Britain and Florence took the girl under her wing.

Soon enough, Florence noticed that the girl didn't exactly know how to behave in polite British society. For one, the girl had grown pretty attached after Florence rescued her from that attack in Athens, so in return, she became overly protective. If anyone ever got too close to Florence while the girl was around, she would try to scare them off, and this only added to the fact that people were put off by the girl's appearance alone. Florence struggled to

fix this behavior. Along the way, she was able to teach the girl to Curtsey, something that all young girls were expected to do. At the time, and this at least endeared her to people who would otherwise be offended by her more let's just say aggressive tendencies, and this girl's captivating stare also didn't hurt. She had wide, discerning eyes, which soon became known all around town, and this was one reason for the name that Florence gave her, Athena,

the Greek god us associated with wisdom. The name was also a nod to the city where they first met. Over time, Athena learned to behave herself. Florence started taking her everywhere she went, and people found this a little odd. Florence was renowned as a healthcare worker and Athena was just different, but Florence didn't care what they thought about it. She would even bring Athena to work with her, and this is how Athena learned to take after Florence's caretaking abilities.

As the story goes, one day, Florence had to change a burn victim's bandages. She brought Athena with her, and at first the patient was confused to see Athena there. They had never seen someone like her in a hospital before, but they had more important things to think about, because having their bandages changed was extremely painful. As Florence worked, the patient winced and writhed. Florence did everything she could to comfort them, but it felt impossible, and then Athena

started showing the patient her curtsies. For a moment, both the patient and Florence were surprised, but then the patient seemed to calm down. Performance was the perfect distraction from their pain. Realizing what she was doing, Athena went on to perform some dance moves and this really cheered the patient up. Soon Florence was finished with the bandages, and Athena's behavior that day was a reminder of the impact that true care and compassion can have. Florence started bringing

Athena to work with her every day after that. Like the burn victim, many of her patients were initially confused and maybe even a little annoyed that Athena was there, but she quickly won them over with her quirks and charm. The way she made patients feel calm and comfortable was a huge help to Florence. Their life together went on like this for four years, and then in eighteen fifty four, the War in Crimea broke out because of Florence's superb

nursing skills she was called to serve. She was ready and willing, but there was one major downside. She would have to leave Athena behind. War, of course, was no place for a girl so small and unaware of the world, but Florence reminded herself that it was only temporary. Before leaving, Florence racked her brain for the best place to keep Athena, and finally she landed on a solution, the attic at

her family's house. Florence didn't love the idea, but it was the best one she had, and her family agreed an attic was a good place for someone like Athena. After all, Athena was an owl. Now it broke Florence's heart to leave Athena behind. Caring for Patience was much different without her, but Florence's work during the war earned her unparalleled recognition. Even back home in Britain, people heard everything that she had accomplished there, and no one was surprised.

After all, she was the famed nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. Unfortunately, owls don't have the same lifespan as humans. After Athena passed away, Florence couldn't part with her beloved pet, and so she had her taxidermied. Athena may not have gone down in history like Florence, but her legacy still lives on today because Athena's nine inch tall body can still be seen in the Florence Nightingale Museum. An enduring testament to a cure friendship. I hope you've enjoyed today's guided

tour of the Cabinet of Curiosities. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, or learn more about the show by visiting Curiosities podcast dot com. The show was created by me Aaron Mankey in partnership with how Stuff Works. I make another award winning show called Lore, which is a podcast, book series, and television show, and you can learn all about it over at the Worldoflore dot com. And until next time, stay curious.