• Courstesy
• Oona Geoghegan

Oona Geoghegan moved to Burlington three months ago and has spent a lot of time at the ECHO Leahy Center for Lake Champlain.

"That's my favorite place to go," the 5-year-old told Seven Days.

Oona especially likes the "big blue eyes" of the eel at ECHO. She's interested in animals and previously lived on a boat moored at Eel Pie Island in the River Thames outside London.

The first time she visited the museum, Oona became concerned that the eel didn't have enough room in its tank. Although she knows eels are nocturnal, she worried that this one was in the same spot every time she visited with her mom, Gina Geoghegan.

With her mom's help, Oona created an online petition to get the creature a bigger tank.

More than 200 people signed. It caught the eye of Steve Smith, the center's director of animal care and facilities, who agreed to meet with Oona. Smith assured her that the eel was OK.

"They're not social," Smith told Seven Days. "So she's pretty content where she is."

Still, ECHO rebuilt the set of caves in the eel's tank to try to make the eel more visible. Smith suggested that Oona come back in the evening when the eel was more active.

The bigger concern, according to Smith, is the future of eels in Lake Champlain. When eels reach their late twenties, they take an epic journey: north to the Canadian portion of the lake; to the Richelieu River, the Saint Lawrence River and the Atlantic Ocean; and then south all the way to the Sargasso Sea, by Bermuda. There, they find mates, lay eggs and die.

Studies have found that few young eels return, and the reasons are unclear, Smith said. "Eels need help," Smith said.

Gina said she was proud of her daughter for taking the initiative and was glad they learned more about the situation. She wants Oona to feel empowered.

"I want her to rule the world when she's bigger," Gina said.