Go Break a Leg: Flying Florida Fish Joins Boater as Sturgeon Snaps Limb

by hearit

When people talk about sports injuries or how to break a leg easily, boating doesn't typically rank among the riskiest sports for snapping a limb--unless, it seems, a flying sturgeon fish is involved.

Florida state had apparently issued a warning to boaters three days prior, to beware of jumping sturgeon and fish. A 25-year-old woman probably didn't believe the seriousness of that warning before a jumping sturgeon joined her as a passenger -- in an airboat on the Suwannee River.

The fish was up to six feet long and packed a wallop, weighing in between 60 to 75 pounds -- the force of the jumping fish and its weight broke her leg on impact. Believe it or not, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says that leg break actually marks the fifth person already injured this year by a jumping sturgeon, In just five weeks, since April 27, four other people have been injured by the Florida fish.

It seems the sturgeon population was out in big numbers for the Memorial Day celebration -- with the river packing up to 14,000 of the fish, along with holiday boaters.
The Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's been recommending "boaters reduce their speed to reduce the risk of impact and to give people more time to react if they do encounter a jumping sturgeon."

Florida's sturgeon situation puts a whole new spin on watching out for flying objects.

As to why the sturgeon jump out of the water to begin with, researchers don't exactly know but think it's either a form of communication or a way to show dominance.

Looks like the sturgeon won on both counts.

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