It’s not quite as mythical or legendary as the Loch Ness Monster, but seeing a sturgeon in Traverse City’s Boardman River is still a fairly rare occurrence.
But that’s exactly what happened – several times this week. There have been a lot of reported false sightings on social media and a woman caught them on camera.
Leah McCallum goes to and from work with the boardman saying she only looked down one day and saw the giant fish. “I go to work all the time. I cross this bridge, I cross this bridge and look into the water. And – in the right place at the right time. It was – for lack of a better word – almost kind of spiritual. I have never seen a living being in such large fresh water. It had almost a purple sheen. As long as I grew up, it was moved like a snake, I would guess. It was breathtaking. It was a beautiful thing to see and I couldn’t believe that it is right here in this river that I pass by every day. “
McCallum says there is no doubt. “Disturbance, they just stand out. All my life, people in my family have caught pikeperch, perch and bluegill and things that can be found on inland lakes. Sturgeons don’t look like the fish I had on my table in northern Michigan. It almost has scales like a reptile. The body is as big as my upper body. It was breathtaking, it felt like something out of a mythical textbook. “
“We’re not sure if it was a fish or more than a fish, but it’s exciting to think about. I think some people who worked on this ecosystem restoration project always knew there was sturgeon out there in the bay. I am waiting to return to the boardman and come home to the river. You came back. It was just something special to see, ”says McCallum.
The Great Lakes Fisheries Commission also confirmed the sighting with Leah’s video evidence. Communications director Marc Gaden says the sturgeon does what it naturally does and is trying to move upstream.
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