The eel is the ultimate storyteller. Its migration remains enigmatic. Anguilla eels specifically have been a focus of wonder and reverence for thousands of years. The idea of spontaneous generation was furthered by eels due to their lack of reproductive organs. Fishermen believed eels came from water itself. However, once ready to spawn, Anguilla eels undergo what is known as the silvering process, or their final metamorphosis: their skin darkens for better camouflage, their eyes grow larger, their digestive system stops functioning and their reproductive organs begin to mature. The migratory patterns of these eels are crucial for this process to be successful and for adult eels to mature and prepare for breeding. Humans haven't been able to successfully mimic the conditions that eels require to complete this process or to have witnessed spawning in the wild. As they migrate from freshwater bodies to the Coral Sea, travelling thousands of kilometers in their final transformation, the intertidal zone becomes their conduit— their last link to land, and the threshold of their final transition.

The cormorant as the observer of the intertidal zone. The Australian pied cormorant is a non-migratory species often remaining in the same estuaries in which it has lived for generations sedentary, like a heavy seed. With wings adapted for air and water, the cormorant exists across these landscapes. Its feathers have less oil than other seabirds, allowing them to soak up water and, in turn, dive deeper due to reduced buoyancy. This is why, unlike other seabirds, they can often be seen drying their feathers in the sun. Living between land and sea, they have long been regarded as creatures of the in-between. In Norse mythology, cormorants were seen as watchers at the edge of the world and as spiritual messengers. In the reflection of the bird's eye is the rocky intertidal zone where species survive the extremes of land meeting sea by hiding below rocks and in crevices. Emblematic of their ever-shifting nature, more than half of these environments have disappeared globally. The cormorant is a constant in this ever-changing environment, a silent observer.