Just three days after the state issued a warning to boaters to beware of jumping sturgeon, one of the fish did just that — breaking a woman's leg.
Witnesses say the sturgeon was about 5- to 6-feet long and weighed about 60- to 75-pounds.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers say Tina Fletcher, 25, was a passenger in an airboat Sunday on the Suwannee River when the sturgeon jumped and hit her leg.
According to wildlife officials, this is the fifth report this year of a person injured by a jumping sturgeon. The first happened on April 27.
In a warning to Memorial Day weekend boaters, the commission on Friday said the river has a large population of sturgeon: up to 14,000.
"We recommend 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," commission officer Lee Beach said.
Why sturgeons jump isn't certain, but the commission noted theories include as a way to communicate or to show dominance.
"I have seen these encounters referred to as 'attacks,'" Allen Martin, a commission biologist, said in the statement. "However, these fish are in no way attacking when they jump. They are simply doing what they have been doing for millions of years: jumping. They aren't targeting the boaters."
