Eel do nicely! Huge fish found in West Bromwich canal - after 4,000 mile trip from Bermuda

The 3ft-long eel was found far from its tropical home of the depths of the Sargasso Sea.

The creature, thought to be more than 20 years old, was discovered by the Canal and River Trust charity in a waterway near West Bromwich following a canal clean-up.

Nearly 200lb of fish recently had to be rescued from the waterway following a 'pollution incident' along the nearby Ridgacre Branch Canal.

John Ellis, national fisheries and angling manager at the Canal & River Trust, said: "Finding an eel this size is pretty amazing as its not something you see every day. I'm delighted we've had a chance to admire this wonderful creature.

"Eels are such a fascinating animal, they start life as a little egg in the Sargasso Sea near Bermuda and make an epic 4,000-mile journey across the Atlantic Ocean to end up in canals and rivers across Europe and North Africa. Once they enter in the canal they will spend their life growing and maturing before returning to the Sargasso Sea to breed."

The eel weighed 5lb 10oz (2.5kg) and was returned to a nearby canal. It is believed the pollution incident was caused by sewage in the canal system, a trust spokesman said.

"The environment agency are still investigating the cause of the pollution, they believe sewage is in the canal," the spokesman said. "At the movement they don't know exactly where it has come from."

Eels are protected by law and are capable of surviving for periods of time out of water.

Once eels have left the rivers to return to the sea to spawn, they stop feeding, and so have to rely on stored energy alone.

Eels can grow to between 5cm and 4m. Adults can weigh from 30g to more than 25kg

Mr Ellis added: "We have safely put the eel back in a nearby canal so it can continue exploring our wonderful waterways. And if you're really lucky you might just catch a glimpse of it swimming somewhere near you!"

The eel was found by James Kirk, a staff member of MEM Fisheries, which was contracted out by the Canal River Trust to rescue the fish.