This piece illustrates the life stages of a freshwater eel (Anguilla). From eggs surrounded by sargassum seaweed, to a willow leaf shaped leptocephalus, to a glass eel, to an elver, to an adult eel. As larva, eels travel from the sea to the river, where they will spend their lives. And when they reach spawning readiness, they will travel from the river back to the sea (specifically the Sargasso Sea, for American and European eels).

The phrase “From the river to the sea” is a phrase used to call for the end of occupation of Palestine, the land between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. The struggles of eels are deeply connected to the struggles of oppressed peoples around the world.