Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Small World (and Even Smaller Town) Department


My apologies to the Associated Press, but this story appeared in our local newspaper, and to Judi it was big news, though not for a reason that would be apparent to most: Note the dateline -- Rock Bluff, Florida. The tiny, tiny hamlet of Rock Bluff, on the Suwannee River, in extremely rural Gilchrist County, is where Judi grew up, in a house that was just the other side of a dirt road from the famous river:

Jumping sturgeon injures woman on Suwannee River

The Associated Press

ROCK BLUFF, Fla. -- A woman was injured over the weekend by a leaping sturgeon, the latest incident involving the flying fish on the Suwannee River, officials said.

Tara Spears, 32, of Bell, was knocked unconscious by the animal on Sunday while boating on the river north of Rock Bluff, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported.

She was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries and expected to recover, the agency reported.

The large, prehistoric-looking sturgeon have hard plates along their backs. They can grow up to 8 feet long and up to 200 pounds.

In April, a leaping sturgeon severely injured a 50-year-old woman from St. Petersburg who was riding a personal watercraft on the Suwannee River. She suffered a ruptured spleen and had three fingers reattached by surgeons, but she lost her left pinkie finger and a tooth.

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