Beware of flying sturgeons

A bony, armor-plated fish once again is making headlines that seem ripped from the pages of a wacky Carl Hiaasen novel.

No one knows why sturgeons on the Suwannee River and most recently the Yellow River in Northwest Florida leap from great depths into the air. It's kind of like how no one knows why the apparently playful mullet in Southwest Florida's tidal waters jump around like they're auditioning for Cirque du Soleil.

But when mullet jump, they don't usually do damage. They just beckon you to get out your cast net or stop at a roadside restaurant for a fried mullet sandwich after you've come off the water. They only weigh a couple pounds, and even if they did hit you, they feel - well - like a fish rather than a 2-by-4.

Sturgeons are practically as hard as castiron skillets, and they're big. Gulf sturgeon can grow to 8 feet in length and weigh more than 200 pounds. A collision with a sturgeon can be serious. One person was killed and 18 were injured in 2006-07 on the Suwannee after being struck by the behemoth fish.

The situation is enough of a concern that the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission put out an alert that read, "To report sturgeon collisions, call 1-888-404- FWCC."

Sturgeon Like I said, it's more like a novel than reality. But this is Florida.

So here's how the most recent incident played out: Northwest Florida brothers Sam and Chris Parish's Yellow River bass fishing trip turned bizarre when a 5- to 6-footer came over the bow of their 16-foot boat and hit both men in their faces and upper bodies. They escaped the June 28 incident with minor cuts, scrapes and bruises. The fish ended up back in the water. An elderly couple catching bream nearby saw the whole thing and came to help.

"My wife said I should have gotten stitches to the cut over my eye, but I didn't," Sam Parish told officers. "It did leave me with the perfect impression of a pectoral fin in my right arm but it went away after a while."

All scars tell stories, but one shaped like the fin of a leaping sturgeon - a protected species in Florida - would have been a story to tell and retell. Makes me wonder if anyone in these parts can boast a scar from a mullet, jack, ladyfish, tarpon or other local species known for jumping. Write me if you can.

Male bobolink In other outdoors news:

Songbirds: Feral cats nail them, disappearing habitat impacts them and because they're so little sometimes it seems as though no one notices them. So Audubon members and bird lovers put out a call this month for people to speak on behalf of the birds that spend half their year in North America and the other in warmer climates.

Roughly 300 bird species are known as "neotropical migrants," such as the western tanager, wood thrush and bobolink. More than 43 percent of these species have experienced significant declines since population surveys started in 1966, according to Audubon. Now Congress is considering HR 5756 to reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Act, which essentially protects the birds through habitat preservation, education and research programs.

Audubon's message: Urge your representative to support the act. Check it out at http://audubonaction.org. And next time you see a songbird - even a non-migratory kind such as a cardinal - take a minute to appreciate its tininess, its tune and its very existence.

Mark your calendar: National Marina Day is Saturday, Aug. 9, with activities held at waterfront locations around Southwest Florida and the nation. National Marina Day was created by the Association of Marina Industries to highlight the roles marinas play in their communities. Check it out at www.MarinaAssociation.org/nmd.

Marina Day '07 brought accolades to Lee County when Four Winds Marina on Pine Island was voted "Best Event" by the National Marina Day committee, so the crew is back at it this year.

From noon to 5 p.m., the free event will feature an island theme, "Caribbean soul with a tropical twist." Live music, boat rides, safety demonstrations, prizes and presentations from the Snook Cowboy and Calusa Ghost Tours are on tap, as well as food from Pollo Tropical and Lazy Flamingo. Call Four Winds at (239) 283-0250 or visit www. fourwindsmarina.com. It's an event worth catching - small-town, harborside fun for everybody.

- Betsy Clayton is a freelancer based on Pine Island and also is Lee County Parks & Recreation's waterways coordinator. Contact her at boatingbybetsy@yahoo.com.