Plant City woman injured by jumping sturgeon

A 31-year-old Plant City woman rested at home Tuesday, recuperating from injuries caused when a Suwannee River sturgeon jumped into the boat she rode in.

April Miller Baker received broken bones in her face that will require surgery, her mother Marcia Kay Miller said.

Baker was injured Friday when a sturgeon — a large fish known for jumping — leapt from the Suwannee near where it meets the Santa Fe River.

The fish jumped just as Baker's father, John Miller, started accelerating as they headed south on the Suwannee.

His wife, who also rode in the boat, said she heard a crash. "I looked around, and there was just glass going every which way, and April was there, and I could see her, and she blinked a couple of times, and then she went down," she said.

Sturgeon behavior has baffled biologists for years, and it's not known why they jump, wildlife officials said. The Gulf sturgeon can grow up to 8 feet in length and weigh up to 200 pounds.

Miller said her daughter doesn't remember what happened.

"She doesn't have memory of getting the boat in the water, actually. She's lost quite a bit of memory," she said.

Baker's parents rushed her to a nearby river resort, called for an ambulance, and paramedics took her to a Gainesville hospital.

"There was blood all over her," Miller said.

"Bless his heart, the ambulance driver told me that a few years ago a friend of his wife died from a sturgeon hitting."

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials said six people in Florida have been hurt this year by sturgeons jumping from the water.

Miller's injuries include broken bones around the eye socket, jaw and teeth. Doctors are waiting for the swelling to go down before determining what kind of surgery she'll need, her mother said.

Conservation commission officials say the sturgeon, a protected species, comes to the Suwannee to spawn. The river is one of the last truly natural habitats for the sturgeon's spawning, they said.

The Suwannee River has the highest concentration of Gulf sturgeon in the state with as many as 14,000 spawning there at a time, conservation commission spokeswoman Karen Parker said. The fish are known to jump during the summer.

The best advice to boaters is to go slowly on the Suwannee River, wear a life vest at all times and don't sit on the bow of the boat, Parker said.