Florida Girl Knocked Out —by a Flying Fish

This is why Florida can't have nice boat rides
By Polly Davis Doig,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 3, 2015 4:27 PM CDT
Florida Girl Knocked Out —by a Flying Fish
A large sturgeon leaps in 2007 on the Suwannee River at Branford, Fla. The fish reach a length of 8 ft., weighing 200 lbs., and have caused a number of injuries when they jump into boats.   (AP Photo/Phil Sandlin)

Ah, Florida: The sunshine, the sand, the water. The consciousness-stealing crazy large fish flying through the air. As NBC reports, 14-year-old Heavyn Nash was out for a boat ride Sunday with her mom and grandfather on the Suwanee River. But of course, this being Florida, we can't have nice experiences with Mother Nature, so a four- to six-foot sturgeon leaped into the boat and knocked out Heavyn. She was taken to the hospital, but a conservation rep says, "Thankfully, she's going to be OK."

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises, as the AP puts it, that "sturgeon are jumping just as they have for millions of years. Occasionally Florida boaters get in their way." The fish, which can jump seven feet in the air, are protected. It's the second "sturgeon strike" in the state in recent weeks. (This has definitely been going on a while.)

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