|
Attack
of the Sturgeon
Call
it a Sturgeon General Warning, but boaters in Florida beware: These hefty
fish have been getting airborne a lot lately and turning themselves into
explosive cruise missiles.
Collisions
between sturgeon and boaters are on the rise this year in the freshwater
rivers of Florida, according to the Daytona Beach News-Journal. Sturgeon,
which have increased in number after they were classified a threatened
species in 1991, can grow more than six feet long and weigh up to 500
pounds, making them particularly dangerous projectiles.
Take
the case of Danny Cordero, 19, who was cruising the Suwannee River on
a PWC with his girlfriend this past Fourth of July. A sturgeon jumped
out of the water and knocked them both off the vehicle before they could
react. “I don’t remember anything,” Cordero told the
local newspaper. “My girlfriend said it was like hitting a brick
wall.” The couple suffered minor injuries but were able to swim
to shore.
On Memorial
Day weekend, Lacy Redd, 34, an elementary school principal from Gainesville,
Florida, suffered five broken ribs when a five-foot-long, 150-pound sturgeon
shot out of the water into her family’s boat and knocked her out.
She said her family never saw it coming.
Boaters
of the Suwannee River say such fish collisions are on the rise not only
because the fish are multiplying, but because boat traffic has increased.
Making matters worse, male sturgeon can leap extraordinarily high out
of the water during spawning season.
Just
ask the Gilchrist County sheriff’s department. A few summers ago
a sheriff’s deputy was patrolling the river in a boat when a 106-pound
sturgeon exploded through the windshield and knocked him down. “When
he called in on the radio, they didn’t believe him at first,”
says sheriff’s chief Harvey Montgomery.
Keeping
a careful eye out for leaping fish is probably the best way to safeguard
yourself against a surprise sturgeon attack. If you’re boating in
known sturgeon spawning areas, be especially cautious. You never know
when—or where—they may strike.
On
Shelves: Honey, Let’s Get a Boat
Here’s the
perfect gift book for your friends who always wanted to get a boat, but
never knew where to start. Honey, Let’s Get a Boat: A Cruising Adventure
of America’s Great Loop chronicles the escapades of a pair of rookie
boaters who take a 44-foot trawler around the country’s famous 3,600-mile
waterway circuit. True landlubbers at the start, Ron and Eva Stob write
honestly and humorously of their nautical ineptitude and the long trail
they take to becoming able boaters. Their story is filled with vital travel
information, touching and often funny anecdotes, and insightful observations
of the brave new cruising world into which they’ve launched. It’s
a masterfully written tale that every first-time cruiser would appreciate.
$18.95, paperback. Raven Cove Publishing
3-5.
The Fish Expo and WorkBoat Atlantic Boat Show in Providence, Rhode
Island. (207)
842-5508. www.fishexpoatlantic.com
3-6. The Boston International In-Water Boat Show. (978) 777-4439.
www.bostoninwaterboatshow.com
5-13. The 42nd-Annual Genoa International Boat Show in Genoa, Italy.
(39) 010-53911
17-20. The United States Powerboat Show in Annapolis, Maryland.
(410) 268-8828. www.usboat.com/shows/pbhomes.htm
31-Nov. 4. The
Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show at the Bahia Mar Yachting Center.
(800) 940-7642. www.showmanagement.com
Next
page > Ferretti Changes Hands, and more
> Page 1, 2
|