Another prehistoric visitor has washed ashore in Beaufort County, marking at least the third Atlantic sturgeon sighting in the area in recent months.
On Sunday, Jan. 11, Fripp Island resident Pete Sload was taking an afternoon walk along the beach when he discovered the rare fish washed up on the shoreline. Sload reported the find to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, and a staff member arrived the following day to retrieve the sturgeon.
Ellen Waldrop, a biologist with SCDNR’s Diadromous Fishes Program, previously told The Island Packet that once the fish is collected, it will be measured, photographed and sampled before the agency submits a record to the National Marine Fisheries Service.
The Atlantic sturgeon is one of two species found in South Carolina waters, alongside the smaller shortnose sturgeon. Both species are federally protected, making it illegal to harm or keep them. Even a dead or stranded sturgeon must be reported…