A five-year-old girl was killed after being struck by a sturgeon while boating with her family in Florida on Thursday.
Jayln Rippy was hit by a sturgeon jumping out of the Suwanee River near Fanning Springs in what the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission say is the first recorded death from a sturgeon strike in the river, according to the Associated Press.
The fish can grow up to eight feet long and weight up to 200 pounds. They are capable of leaping more than seven feet above the water and causing serious injuries.
Jayln's mother, Tanya Faye, 31, and brother, Trevor, 9, were taken to Shands Hospital in Gainesville on Thursday after suffering injuries from the incident and will need facial reconstruction surgery, USA Today reported.
Two more people were injured in a separate incident on Friday by a jumping sturgeon in the Santa Fe River, Fla., USA Today reported. The FWC is advising people going boating to stay away from the bow of the craft and to always wear life jackets.
"With the low water levels in the river system, the sturgeon are jumping much more frequently than in recent years," said Maj. Andy Krause, FWC regional commander in Lake City. "We want everyone boating on the Suwanee and Santa Fe Rivers to be aware that the sturgeon are jumping and that people have been injured."
