WATCH: Conservation officials catch 6-foot, 10-inch sturgeon in Michigan
Published in Weird News
(UPI) Conservation officials in Michigan shared a photo of a "once in a lifetime catch" -- a lake sturgeon measuring 6 feet, 10 inches long.
The Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office said researchers on the Detroit River reeled in the 6-foot, 10-inch lake sturgeon last week and the fish weighed in at a staggering 240 pounds.
Biologists estimated the sturgeon, believed to be a female, is likely more than 100 years old and is one of the largest lake sturgeon on record in the United States.
"We knew it was big in the water, but when we saw it on the deck of the boat, we were all like, 'yep, this is very large,'" Paige Wigren, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist who was on board the boat, told WWMT-TV.
Wigren said the fish was larger than the largest options on the growth charts biologists use to estimate the age of a sturgeon.
"We went to the largest point in this chart, and added a tiny bit more," Wigren said.
Officials said the massive sturgeon was returned to the river.
Copyright 2021 by United Press International
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