With a powerful burst of energy, the massive fish leaps a few feet into the air showing off its bony armor and lengthy whiskers before gracefully diving back into the water.

Atlantic sturgeon acrobatic displays are hard to forget, but it’s a natural wonder that almost vanished from the James River had revival efforts not saved it.

Found along the East Coast, these prehistoric fish were once plentiful throughout the river before pollution and overfishing almost eradicated them. Virginia banned the harvest of Atlantic sturgeon in 1974 in an attempt to restore this culturally important creature.

In 2006, more focus was put toward restoring James River sturgeon, and in 2010, a few experimental spawning reefs started being installed. Atlantic sturgeon were eventually added to the Endangered Species list in 2012.

But even with decades of research, the fish remains a puzzle despite having roamed local waters for thousands of years – a species whose secrets have intrigued Dr. Matthew Balazik.

Balazik, part of the research faculty at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Rice Rivers Center, has studied the river’s sturgeon for 18 years. “I grew up on the James and knew of sturgeon but they were tales of old and no longer around,” he says.

When Balazik began his master’s degree, he came across the sturgeon research Albert Spells of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was doing through a Fisheries Research Grant. Spells was working alongside some commercial fishers who were catching the fish in the lower James. The project needed assistance and Balazik jumped at the opportunity.

“I was extremely lucky that the sturgeon were making a comeback right when I was looking for a project,” says Balazik. “The sturgeon were a black box no one really knew about, so I was excited to be part of the group that was painting their life history in the James.”

Since then, he has been a sturgeon whisperer working to better understand this peculiar fish that can grow up to 14-feet-long and live for at least 30 years.

“We’ve tagged over 800 different adults since we started and we sometimes recapture fish that were tagged 10 years apart,” says Balazik. For instance, on Sept. 4, his team found one that was first caught in 2017.

Adult sturgeon return each year to their birthplace to spawn before swimming back to the ocean. In the James River, they arrive from March to November with peak spawning activity being in September. Most adults seem to prefer the area around Henricus Park to just upstream of Osborne Park and Boat Landing while juveniles (who are here year-round) tend to congregate around the river’s salt wedge.

The fish has significantly recovered but challenges remain, like boat strikes. A vessel’s whirling propeller can draw sturgeon in and mercilessly chop them up. “We find carcasses from April to November,” says Balazik. “We are trying to better determine how many are being killed but it’s difficult.”

The most alarming problem, though, is the lack of young fish. “[A lot] of adults are spawning but we aren’t finding any young except for one year, the fall of 2018,” says Balazik. “There are some theories about the recruitment failure but it is a contentious topic.”

Despite obstacles, there’s still much to celebrate, and Richmonders have plenty of opportunities to potentially catch a glimpse of this fish themselves, like with the James River Association’s sturgeon-watching tours.

The annual September trips, held since 2019, take people on a leisurely cruise down the river out of Kingsland Marina.

“When these huge fish leap out of the water, it can be a profound moment of reflection for how far we have come with restoring the river,” says Tom Dunlap, the JRA’s Riverkeeper. “Sometimes they shoot out like a rocket and other times they lazily flop to the side. Whatever the method, every breach is a sight to see!”

While the association’s tours have sold out for the year, RVA Paddlesports provides another up-close opportunity this month: two-hour sturgeon viewing kayak tours.

Designed for all experience levels, the flatwater excursion starts from Osborne Boat Landing and moves toward the river’s tidal sections. “Once we see or hear splashing we slowly make our way towards that area in hopes of better viewing of the prehistoric fish,” says Patrick Griffin, its owner and operator. “We offer all the equipment and guides. Participants just need to bring themselves, a water bottle and an adventurous attitude.”

Griffin was inspired to start the tours after coming across these creatures during a mid-September paddle a few years ago. “During this four-hour paddle [nonstop] I saw dozens of breaching sturgeon and was blown away about such a cool wildlife viewing opportunity in our city,” he says.

But if outdoor adventures aren’t your thing, raise a toast to the sturgeon at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery with their “Great Return” beer. The American IPA features an Atlantic sturgeon on the can with some information about them. A portion of purchases go toward supporting the James River Association’s ongoing work for a species that still has much to reveal about itself.

“When it comes to ecosystem balance, fish like gizzard shad, anchovies or menhaden play a much more important ecological role than sturgeon,” says Balazik. “But sturgeon are charismatic megafauna shrouded in mystery.”