Swimming with Dinosaurs: Why These Ancient Jurassic Fish Are Facing Extinction Today

A prehistoric fish, the Syr Darya sturgeon, might still be swimming in a murky river in southern Kazakhstan. This tiny fish hasn’t been spotted since the 1960s, sparking a mission by scientists to see if it can escape extinction.

The Syr Darya sturgeon is the smallest of 26 sturgeon species, reaching just 22 centimeters long. With its long snout and bony plates, it resembles larger sturgeon like the massive beluga, which can grow over 7 meters.

Sturgeons have survived for 162 million years, facing climate changes and even the meteorite that killed the dinosaurs. But today, they face a serious threat: humans.

Environmental Issues in the Syr Darya
Bernie Kuhajda, a biologist from the Tennessee Aquarium Conservation Institute, is searching the Syr Darya River in hopes of finding these fish. He’s seen Syr Darya sturgeon only in jars in museums.

The river’s ecosystem was disrupted by Soviet-era dams, blocking the sturgeons’ paths to spawning grounds and contributing to the collapse of their habitat, which once flowed into the Aral Sea. The loss of this ecosystem is profound. A report by the IUCN notes that 94% of global sturgeon populations have vanished since 1970, and 17 of the 25 known species are critically endangered. The construction of dams and pollution from farming and mining have destroyed their breeding grounds.

Kuhajda notes, “In just two hundred years, we’ve devastated the sturgeons’ river habitat.” The impact of human activity has been catastrophic.

A Rare Find and Hope
Despite these challenges, Kuhajda and colleague Dave Neely remain hopeful. If they locate surviving sturgeon, they plan to use conservation methods like capturing fish, fertilizing their eggs in hatcheries, and raising young sturgeons for reintroduction. This method has been successful in other regions where migration routes are blocked.

Their spirits were lifted when a local fisherman claimed to have caught a similar fish years ago. With this information, the team is now navigating the river, hoping to find evidence of a living population. "We might just be searching for a legend, or we could discover a treasure," Kuhajda remarked, highlighting the blend of hope and uncertainty.

As they comb through the muddy depths with specialized nets, the survival of this ancient species hangs in the balance. The mission underscores a growing awareness about conservation, the pivotal role of ecosystems, and the lasting impacts of human interference on wildlife.

For anyone interested in the plight of sturgeon and similar conservation efforts, you can read more about ongoing projects and efforts in species recovery at the IUCN website.

Source link