That was a surprise. We thought they'd disperse more. Early results indicate the fish can survive in the Platte, Peters said. Most pallid sturgeons don't use the Platte's deepest areas. They frequent intermediate depths in slow-moving water, Peters said.
Pallid sturgeon prefer slow water adjacent to fast water.
Most of the time, we found them in water 1 to 3 feet deep. At just over a yard long, fish in Peters' study are smaller than those in some other studies. Otherwise, sturgeon in the Platte seem to be selecting habitats similar to fish in other studies, including their preference for slower-moving water, he said. Researchers will fly over the Platte this winter with radio receivers in search of the fish and track them again next spring in hopes of learning about longer-term movements. They only way to find out is to see if we get some returns next spring.