“Is that a penguin?” asked the daughter of a friend of mine as they passed over the Androscoggin River last week. This was a particularly funny question given that her parents are both very well versed in the natural world and that penguins certainly don’t live in Maine. But the oddity of seeing a giant sturgeon leap entirely out of the water is enough to make one think you’re seeing something quite out of the ordinary. Leaping sturgeon are a spring phenomenon that is definitely worth the trip down to the river to see. And when you see it, you’ll know it!

While this column is usually about marine species, Atlantic sturgeon actually do qualify as marine, at least in part. They are one of the species of fish that migrate not from cold water to warm or deep to shallow, but from salty to fresh. These are known as anadromous fish. “Ana” in Greek means “upward” and “dromos” means “to run.” These fish go from the sea up into freshwater rivers to breed. Other, more familiar anadromous fish include salmon or shad. But sturgeon are unusual both in their size (they can be up to 13 feet long) and in their prehistoric appearance. They have heavy bony plates called “scutes” along the sides of their bodies, including along the side of their long snouts. Their species name, oxyrinchus (full Latin name Acipenser oxyrinchus oxyrinchus), means pointed snout. These bony plates are heavy, making them sometimes weigh more than 600 pounds. Their weight is one of the reasons it’s so impressive to see them leap up out of the water — their entire bodies exposed before they slap back down onto the surface with a giant splash. Often, you’ll see or hear the splash first and then, if you keep watching, you might be lucky enough to see another one leap up so that you can see its body. Another reason that this leaping is impressive is that they spend much of their time deep under the water, using their chin barbels to feel along the bottom for shellfish and other invertebrates.

Finally, leaping sturgeon are remarkable simply because of their existence. Because they are anadromous, many of their pathways from salt water to freshwater were blocked by the building of dams along the rivers where they live. This is particularly important because they don’t reproduce frequently (females spawn every two to five years), and they don’t start spawning until they are nearly 15 years old! They do, however, live for an unusually long time for a fish, sticking around sometimes for up to a century. This means that any threats to their population take a long time to recover from. That includes the construction of dams, poor water quality and also overfishing. While some people have historically enjoyed sturgeon meat, it is their eggs that were most prized. Sturgeon eggs are one of the most highly valued types of caviar, and in the late 1800s, their populations were overfished for this reason. A combination of dam removal, water-quality improvements and a prohibition on fishing via listing as a threatened species until the Endangered Species Act has led to their recovery. The Atlantic sturgeon is still classified as threatened and, thus, fishing is still prohibited.

This means that if you notice boats out in the water fishing around Brunswick’s bridge over the Androscoggin, they aren’t fishing for sturgeon. Many of them are, instead, fishing for smallmouth or striped bass or river pike among a variety of other species. But I have heard some tales of sturgeon leaping right into those small boats, giving the fisherman an unexpected surprise. And, as for why they leap, that’s still a mystery. Regardless, it is an impressive sight to see at this time of year and easy to view from the bridge, from the deck of Sea Dog restaurant or from the 250th Anniversary Park.

Susan Olcott is the director of operations at Maine Coast Fishermen’s Association.

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