Sturgeon are big enough to be mistaken for a human, a point made again Saturday on Lake Michigan.
“I could see a large object floating in the water with a white shirt approximately 300-400 yards south from me and in close proximity to the recovery of the first body,” emailed Capt. Ernesto Amparan of Thin Blue Line Fishing LLC of what he saw setting lines in 113 feet for a charter near the R4 buoy off the north suburbs.
Earlier Saturday another charter found a body believed to be the 41-year-old swimmer unaccounted for in “harsh swimming conditions” off Evanston on June 30.
“I called the Coast Guard to report my observation just in case I couldn’t get all my line lines out the water in time before it continued to float away,” Capt. Amparan emailed. “As I got closer the object was getting bigger. My customers all believed it was a person floating, but to our surprise it was an appropriately a 5-foot dead sturgeon. I’ve been seen one in Lake Michigan before and it was interesting to see a dead one floating around. My customers were relieved it wasn’t a body and were excited to see the sturgeon.”