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Sturgeon are magnificent creatures. Huge and reptilian-looking. Prehistoric would be the right word. They live in the muddy Fraser River, not far from where I grew up.

I saw only one, once, when I was nineteen. I was out in Mission, BC, sitting on a dock, minding my own business, feeding the ducks the crusts of a leftover samwich. It was a beautiful summer day...

Suddenly, the ducks swam out of the way, then flew off. There was a wake in the murky, still water making its way slowly toward me. So I watched.

Eventually the wake got close enough to the dock (and me) for me to see what was going on.

It was a large butt-ugly fish-face: the most improbable looking face, just under the water. And it was attached to a huge, long body that just sorta disappeared behind it. I have no idea how long it was, but it was long.

The fish swam lazily under the dock. I didn’t see it emerge out the other side, but perhaps it went deeper into the mud.

That was definitely something to see. Unforgettable.