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5-year-old Florida girl killed by leaping sturgeon

By Danielle Haynes

LAKE CITY, Fla., July 4 (UPI) -- A 5-year-old died Thursday after a sturgeon jumped onto the girl's family's boat on the Suwannee River in northern Florida, wildlife officials said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said Jaylon Rippy died, and her mother, Tanya Faye, 31, and 9-year-old brother, Trevor, were hospitalized after the incident. Both the mother and brother sustained facial injuries requiring surgery.

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The commission said it was the first recorded fatality from a sturgeon strike in the Suwannee River.

On Friday, two more people were injured by a jumping sturgeon on the Santa Fe River.

Sturgeon are known for their ability to leap more than 7 feet out of water. They are particularly dangerous to boaters because of hard plates along their backs. The fish can grow up to 8 feet long and up to 200 pounds.

"With the low water levels in the river system, the sturgeon are jumping much more frequently than in recent years," said Maj. Andy Krause, FWC regional commander in Lake City. "We want everyone boating on the Suwannee and Santa Fe Rivers to be aware that the sturgeon are jumping and that people have been injured."

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