“These animals have been around for a long, long time …”
Published on Aug 13, 2026 at 4:17 PM
Last month, a fishing enthusiast, who goes by @BudCasts on TikTok, was riding his bike by a river near his home in Montreal, Canada, when he spotted something that made him pause. Down an embankment along the shore, an animal appeared to be in distress inside a moored pedal boat.
At first, BudCasts thought it might be an injured bird. A closer look, however, revealed that it was in fact a prehistoric fish who’d evidently become trapped after jumping from the water. BudCasts knew he had to help.
“I rescued a DINOSAUR!” he wrote.
@budcasts I rescued a DINOSAUR!!! #fishing#fish#fishinglife#fishtok#bass♬ Bell ding – unknown
Climbing down the embankment and onto the dock, BudCasts then returned the large fish to the water.
The fish BudCasts rescued was a sturgeon — a fish often referred to as a “living fossil.” Their ancestors date back more than 200 million years, making sturgeons one of the oldest groups of fish still around today.
Sturgeon have an ancient lineage stretching back to the age of the dinosaurs — long before the existence of pedal boats. And human kindness.
That day, this sturgeon experienced both.
“I felt great knowing that I helped save a fish’s life,” BudCasts told The Dodo. “These animals have been around for a long, long time and can grow into massive creatures. The beauty of these fish never ceases to amaze me”