Viral 13 Foot Sturgeon Photo in the Kennebec is a Hoax
Sturgeon
It is not uncommon to see the endangered sturgeon in Maine rivers. I've seen more than I can count hopping out of the Kennebec River in Augusta. These are primitive fish and pre-date dinosaurs. According to MaineRivers.org, they are bottom feeders.
The ones we're likely to see in Maine rivers are the shortnose sturgeon which rarely reaches more than 3 feet long whereas their cousin, the Atlantic sturgeon can grow to more than twice that at 7 feet according to MaineRivers.org.
While 3 feet is still impressive for a prehistoric local fish, it's a far cry from a recent viral photo claiming to be a 13-foot-long sturgeon found in the Kennebec River.
Fake News
A photo was shared by someone by the name of Charitha Fernando of Auckland, New Zealand, and was then shared by a Facebook group, INCREDIBLE UNIVERSE which has over 210,000 members. The photo currently has over 1,000 shares.
The problem is that this photo went viral 6 years ago according to NBC26. The original, however, said that the sturgeon was found on Winnebago and between 12 and 14 feet long. The poster even said it was a joke.
That post has over 18,000 shares.
The Truth
Wikipedia does back up the claim that the largest sturgeon on record was a beluga in 1827 in the Volga Delta that spans southern Russia and western Kazakhstan that measured 23 feet 7 inches.
It's certainly not uncommon to see these creatures in Maine, just don't expect anything more than a few feet long.
And don't believe everything you read on the internet.
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