Tag Archives: sturgeon

Sturgeon and the Suwannee River, WWALS Webinar, Ken Sulak and Christiaan Ard 2026-09-22

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Hear two experts talk about half an hour of above and underwater pictures and video footage that Ken Sulak and Chris Getlinger captured this past spring.

What better way to celebrate the Autumnal Equinox?

It’s online by zoom, noon to 1 PM, Tuesday, September 22, 2026.

Register to join the zoom:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/o02HNIbuSaOXTx7hP4Sriw

Encourage others to join by marking going on this facebook event:

https://www.facebook.com/events/1758099698528493

[Sturgeon and the Suwannee River, WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Ken Sulak and Christiaan Ard, Noon-1 PM, Tuesday, 2026-09-22]
Sturgeon and the Suwannee River, WWALS Webinar by Zoom, Ken Sulak and Christiaan Ard, Noon-1 PM, Tuesday, 2026-09-22

Ken Sulak says fall is an appropriate time to talk about sturgeon, because, “Sturgeon spawning this spring was likely a total failure due to the drought and then rapid warming of the river. But 20% of the population, a genetically distinct portion, is adapted to spawn in October-November as the river cools below 25 C. Good time to talk again about sturgeon migration and spawning—and the potential impact of naturally-occurring low river levels, exacerbated by excessive withdrawals.”

Ken Sulak described his video footage:

Over the course of approximately eight weeks, we were fortunate enough to be able to capture the ancient and enigmatic, Gulf sturgeon during their annual spawning migration up the Suwannee River. A journey that takes them up river 120 miles Continue reading →

Sturgeon jumping are news

Suzy Hall found this front page newspaper article about a sturgeon jumping into a boat. Such spectacular fish leaps have produced various myths.

[Sturgeon airlines, 2007-05-10]
Sturgeon airlines, 2007-05-10

There has only ever been one recorded human death from sturgeon on the Suwannee River: a five-year-old girl in 2015. That was tragic, and two other people in her boat were also injured. Nobody wants that to happen.

But the myth that many people have been killed by jumping sturgeon is not true.

What Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) recommends is:

“Go slow. Wear your life jacket. Stay off the bow of the boat.”

Which jibes with Continue reading →

Sturgeons Catching Air –Ken Sulak, USGS, retired 2012-10-01

Why do those prehistoric hundred-pound fish jump so far out of the water? Many reasons, explained in Catching Air—Those Magnificent Jumping Suwannee Sturgeons, by Ken Sulak.

[Page 1 of 3]
Page 1 of 3

Source: Continue reading →

Suwannee River Basin Maps

Update 2019-02-13: And a version with Landings. See also Water Trails, with more detailed maps and access points.

Nobody seems to have done this, so we did: a map of the Suwannee River Basin, with the major watersheds and the Estuary shaded, and all the major rivers, plus many of the creeks. Bonus: springs! Narrow, Suwannee River Basin Click on this link for an interactive google map of the Suwannee River Basin.

The river traces come from USGS and Chris Graham. The watershed boundaries are from USGS. The springs are from the Florida Springs Institute, plus four Georgia springs collected by WWALS.

The eight-digit hydrologic unit codes (HUC8) for the Suwannee River Basin are: Continue reading →

Earth Day 2016, at VSU, on the Alapaha River, and worldwide

Noon to 3PM today, WWALS will be on the VSU front lawn with VSU Front Lawn Students Against Violating the Environment (S.A.V.E.), celebrating Earth Day, recommending along with Waterkeeper Alliance: Keep it in the Ground, especially fracking for pipelines including Sabal Trail, and congratulating Lowndes County on progress on the new Naylor Boatramp and Valdosta on finally almost just about pretty soon finishing its fixes to stop spilling sewage into our rivers.

Tomorrow at 8AM, come paddle with WWALS from Hotchkiss Road in Lanier County to Mayday in Echols County, past the new park and boat ramp Lowndes County is building just north of US 84. Next month at Reed Bingham State Park between Adel and Moultrie, GA, it’s the BIG Little River Paddle Race, registration 8-9AM Saturday May 21, 2016. And in June come paddle on the Withlacoochee River from Florida Campsites Ramp to Suwannee River State Park, Saturday June 4, 2016. Before then we hope to invite everybody downstream from Valdosta’s sewage spills to attend the end-of-May signing ceremony for the new Valdosta force main and uphill Withlacoochee Wastewater Treatment Plant!

If you fall in on one of these outings, you could win Continue reading →