Stalked by a Sturgeon

Article by Lee Carleton 

Richmond is a great place to live -- especially if you want surprise adventure! I had been enjoying the James River Parks for years before I moved to Richmond in 1992, but when I founded the Earth Lodge living-learning community at the University of Richmond, I really began enjoying all that our 500+ acres have to offer.

As a regular visitor to Pony Pasture, I often encountered tireless City Naturalist and Parks Manager, Ralph White, and I realized that he would make an ideal speaker for Earth Lodge with his radio announcer's voice and fluent interdisciplinary knowledge about Richmond's ecosystem. Since that realization, Mr. White has been a regular speaker for the Earth Lodge, and one day during a talk about the history and biodiversity of the James River he challenged us to make an experiment. 

Mr. White's knowledge of the falls of the James includes its industrial history, and he told us a bit about the quarrying operations along Riverside Drive near the Z-dam, where, about 100 yards downstream there is a deep channel cut in the riverbed to accommodate barges loaded with stone from the quarries. I had used this area for swimming laps because of its depth, but never knew why this particular lane was devoid of obstacles. In the waters of this deep channel, Mr. White explained, are "anadromous" fish that live in salt water but swim up rivers to spawn in fresh water -- there were sturgeon as big as a man in the James River at Richmond.

Sturgeon?! No way! We didn't quite believe that this large, ancient and pointy fish could be populating the James. A catfish maybe, but not a sturgeon.  

The experimental challenge suggested by Mr. White was simple: get a basic diving mask, go to the channel cut for the quarry barges, put the mask on and swim around to see what you find. Swim around -- yeah, right.

I don't know about you, but I'm not a fan of swimming by other large animals that are not human -- especially if they look like a prehistoric monster. Clearly I was not really convinced that there were such prehistoric monstrosities in my beloved James River because I went looking for one. 

It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. The water felt good and the surface sparkled hypnotically as the sunlight also beautifully illuminated the green aquatic gloom. I grabbed my mask and snorkel, and then I decided to bring my fins along to aid in my search. I thought I might have to dive down deep to find something. I needed the fins alright, but not for that. Once I swam out to the middle of the river in the channel area, I put on my mask and as soon as I stuck my face in the water, three feet away (I swear!) from my face was a six-foot long (I kid you not), one-foot wide, pointy-nosed swimming dinosaur with large diamond-shaped fins projecting from its back. Needless to say, my own fins were immediately activated -- in full reverse. 

The sturgeon never moved towards me or menaced me in any way, but that didn't detract from its impact. What can I say? I freaked. For a minute. Then I regained my composure and swam for shore without bothering to look for more. Since then, I've learned that there are about 26 species of sturgeon throughout the world and that a Chinese sturgeon can reach 15' and weigh 1000 pounds, so really my six-foot Atlantic sturgeon was not so very big -- until you're face-to-face. Try Mr. White's experiment for yourself sometime and let us know how it goes!

Lee Carleton is a Richmond-area hiker, teacher and writer.