A FIVE-YEAR-OLD Florida girl riding in a boat has died after a sturgeon leapt from the Suwannee River and struck her.

Wildlife officials said Jaylon Rippy died after being struck on Thursday night. Her mother and nine-year-old brother were also injured and taken to a Gainesville hospital. Their condition was not known.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said it was the first fatality recorded from a sturgeon strike on the Suwannee River. Four people have been injured by jumping sturgeon this year, including two boaters who were taken to the hospital Friday.

Wildlife officials say Colleen Harvey, 42, and her husband Charles, 41, were struck while boating along the Santa Fe River. Last month, a 14-year-old was knocked unconscious by a sturgeon while boating with her family.

media_camera They can leap metres out of water.

The fish are known for leaping more than two metres above the water, and many people boating on the north Florida river have been injured by the large, airborne sturgeon over the years. The large, prehistoric-looking sturgeon have hard plates along their backs. They can grow up to 2.4 metres long, weigh up to 90kg and can cause serious injuries.

In 2007, a leaping sturgeon severely injured a 50-year-old woman from St. Petersburg as she was riding a personal watercraft along the Suwannee River. She suffered a ruptured spleen and had three fingers reattached by surgeons, but she lost her left pinky finger and a tooth.

The fish usually return to the area in the spring, but their acrobatics often depend on the water levels. This year’s low levels are causing the sturgeon to jump more frequently than in recent years. Biologists aren’t sure why they jump, but they assure boaters that the fish aren’t trying to attack people.

When fish attack A Washington University rowing crew is 'attacked' by jumping fish. Source: YouTube/cubsman720

Originally published as Jumping fish kills girl