Man Seen Dumping Bags Full Of Eels In Prospect Park Lake: Report

PROSPECT PARK, BROOKLYN — Prospect Park lake got more than 100 new residents on Sunday thanks to a mystery man visiting Brooklyn's backyard, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

A man was seen Sunday evening dumping trash bags full of live, wriggling eels into the lake in what park stewards say is illegal and hazardous to the waterway and other wildlife that call it home.

“No exaggeration, it had to be at least 100 eels,” fisherman Dominick Pabon told the Paper.

Pabon took a video of the mystery eel man, who said he bought the eels from a store and was "rescuing" them by dumping them into the lake. Pabon said the eels appeared to be saltwater eels and that some even seemed to try and swim back out of the lake, which is fresh water.

The man, dressed in white clothes, had dragged the trash bags full of eels through the park entrance near Vanderbilt Street around 7:30 p.m., witnesses said.

The onlookers called police, but the man was gone by the time cops arrived, according to the Paper.

The Prospect Park Alliance, which oversees the park, told the Paper that releasing animals into the park is both dangerous and against the law.

“The parks waterways and natural areas are fragile habitats, and this can disrupt these naturally occurring systems, introducing disease and other pathogens which can be harmful," alliance spokesperson Deborah Kirschner said.

Read the Brooklyn Paper's full report here.