Real Life River Monster Pulled Out of Detroit River

This is something that looks like it would be straight out of the television show River Monsters.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently pulled a giant lake sturgeon out the Detroit River. This sucker is massive at nearly 7-feet long and weighs more than 200 pounds.

Before you start freaking out, don't worry, they quickly threw her back after being processed.

Alpena Fish and Wildlife Conservation Office:

A once in a lifetime catch for our Detroit River native species crew last week! This real life river monster was tipping the scales at 240 lbs, measuring 6'10" long, and a girth of nearly 4'. Caught in the Detroit River, this fish is one of the largest lake sturgeon ever recorded in the U.S.

Based on its girth and size, it is assumed to be a female and that she has been roaming our waters over 100 years. So, she likely hatched in the Detroit River around 1920 when Detroit became the 4th largest city in America.

That's crazy to think something's been swimming around our waters for over 100 years. Even though that seems like a really long time, sturgeon, in general, have been around for a lot longer than that.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and WXYZ, the lake sturgeon is a remnant of the dinosaur age but its population in Michigan is about 1% of its former population. Sturgeon numbers in the Detroit River have been greatly reduced by channelization, loss of coastal wetlands, water pollution and more.