Living dinosaur caught in Canada? 120-year-old sturgeon stuns anglers in BC river

A massive white sturgeon known as "Ghost," believed to be more than 120 years old, was finally caught and released this week in British Columbia’s Fraser River.

The rare 10-foot, 2-inch fish was reeled in on Monday(July 7) by a team from River Monster Adventures, a Chilliwack-based fishing charter that specializes in sturgeon. For years, the crew had only glimpsed the elusive fish on sonar or breaching briefly at the surface, never close enough to confirm or tag.

“Over the years, we believe we’ve caught glimpses of him, either on our sonar or possibly breaching, but actual sightings have been extremely rare,” said Jen Shareski of River Monster Adventures in an email to CTV News. “As far as we know, no one else has ever caught Ghost before this.”


The moment was described as both thrilling and nerve-wracking.

“It was like, ‘Holy, we have the opportunity of a lifetime. Don’t mess this up,” said Jeff Grimolfson, the company’s owner, during a Zoom call with CTV. “Panic set in when we realized what we had.”

The catch took over an hour and involved a coordinated team effort between two repeat clients, a deckhand, and the captain. The fish was identified by its unique curled dorsal fins, a sign of its old age. Despite being over a century old, Ghost had never been tagged, one of many reasons the team believes it had never been caught before.

Once the fish was secured and measured, it was tagged and released back into the river as part of an ongoing conservation program.

“We are strictly catch and release,” said Shareski. “We’re proud to be part of the sturgeon conservation tagging program.”

Century-old river giant

White sturgeon are the largest freshwater fish in Canada and have remained largely unchanged for millions of years. They can live well over 150 years and grow up to six meters (20 feet) in length.

Ghost now joins other famous sturgeons in Fraser River lore, including “Pig Nose,” another massive sturgeon caught by the same company in 2016 and again in later years, known for the distinct scar on its snout.

Conservationists warn that despite their size and resilience, white sturgeon are a species at risk. Many populations in BC are in decline due to habitat destruction and overfishing in the past.

Today, strict catch-and-release rules and tagging programs help researchers track population health and movement.

But stories like Ghost’s are rare.

“It’s a reminder of how ancient and precious these creatures are,” said Grimolfson. “It’s not just about fishing, it’s about protecting something truly irreplaceable.”