Canada hit the headlines this week after a citizen encountered an unusual creature from one of Alberta's rivers. According to the reports, the man hooked a sturgeon, a fish species that has been on water bodies of the planet since the Triassic period.
Alberta Man Catches Prehistoric Fish in Alberta
The Alberta man caught the prehistoric creature, which measured about eight feet and six inches in length. The creature's size is comparable to an average human and scaled to about 159 kilograms in weight.
The sturgeon retaliated during the catch, fighting the fisher with its unimaginable strength for about 30 minutes before bringing it back to the river.
Braeden Rouse, who specializes in roofing services, decided to go on a weekend adventure with friends. One of their spots was Alberta's Fraser river, in which the wide biodiversity of aquatic species resides.
According to a report by the CTV News Calgary, Rouse's group went fishing and caught the biggest haul ever recorded from the river. After the catch, Rouse attempted to bring back the Triassic-period fish to water for it to return to its natural habitat.
Rouse explained that roofing businesses are temporarily closed due to the old weather brought by the season. To make more of the winter vacation, the group visited the 1,370-kilometer Fraser river in hopes of adding fun to their adventure.
Sidney Kozelenko accompanied Rouse on a three-hour trip to a fishing spot in the Fraser River. But not before the activity ended, the couple indeed witnessed something interesting on their weekend getaway.
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Sturgeons: 'Living Dinosaurs' from Triassic Period
Catching a gigantic sturgeon was not expected by Rouse. In addition, they had no sufficient equipment to help bring the creature to the shore. This pushed the group to pull the fish by hand from their kayak.
Rouse said that the size of the prehistoric fish was massive due to the excessive force they used while catching the supposed normal haul. According to a report by Times Now, the fish did not move for a while, but there was a moment when it started struggling and running off across the shallow waters.
The fish was so large that Kozelenko felt the need to document the bizarre moment. As the fish displayed its powerful resistance, Rouse was seemingly pulled around the river and was brought by it downstream. The unexpected events required Kozelenko to hop in the kayak and paddle after Rouse and the sturgeon.
For about 25 minutes, Rouse 'battled' with the sturgeon on the cold river. After intense movements by the fish, it eventually became tired. Due to the window of opportunity, Kozelenko immediately tied a rope between the sturgeon and the boat and returned it to the shore.
Fortunately, the Alberta couple successfully released the giant into the waters.
Sturgeons or Acipenseridae are also called 'living dinosaurs' due to their existence spans back to the Triassic period 245 to 208 billion years ago. There were no significant evolutionary changes observed in the fish species through their presence on Earth.
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