Sturgeon are some of the Earth’s most endangered animals. These “living fossils” have been around since the age of the dinosaurs, but with habitat loss, overfishing, and the illegal caviar trade. They are on the verge of extinction. However, at The Great Lakes Aquarium, the fish flourish under the care of Danielle Tikalsky, the volunteer and engagement manager, and the whole team

“They’re very very good fish,” Danielle tells us. The aquarium welcomes visitors to see touch and see the fish for themselves, but Danielle gets up close and personal in her job, wading into the pool with them for dinner. She knows all the names of the fish… from Crackers, Provolone, Snowflake, and Rasputin.

It helps when she feeds them, making sure that everybody in the pool gets enough and others don’t get too much. The Staretz are the smallest of the species which live up to 70 years. The Lake Sturgeon are the biggest and will live up to 150 years, these are the animals that can be found in water- in and around the Northland. Throughout their lives all with continue to grow. Across the 6 species of sturgeon in the touch pool, they’ll range from 8 feet to 23 feet! Many of these animals at GLA are still pretty young.