TARRYTOWN, N.Y. — May 29, 2014 — "This will give us a much better understanding of where these fish are spending their time, when they're moving, where they're feeding, and whether they're affected by the construction," said Justin Krebs, a fish ecologist and a consultant on the study.
Chris Burnett is a sturgeon surgeon.
The biologist wore an orange slicker rather than hospital scrubs, and his operating room was a small fishing boat in the middle of the Hudson River. But Wednesday's operation was serious work as Burnett used a scalpel to make a 3-inch incision in the belly of a gasping shortnose sturgeon, inserted an electronic tracking device and quickly stitched up the wound.
After a few minutes in a holding tank to make sure the sturgeon was OK and a test with a monitor to make sure the new transmitter was working, the 25-inch, 3-pound patient was dropped back into the river.
If all goes well, its movements will be tracked for months by underwater receivers. And the fish will play its part in a study that stems from the construction of an immense new bridge in the New York City suburbs, right in the middle of its habitat.
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