Researchers rescue endangered sawfish in Florida Keys
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A very off and often fatal behavior is impacting dozens of species of fish in the Florida Keys. It’s known as “fish spinning.”
Now, it’s also impacting the highly endangered smalltooth sawfish.
“When we began to observe this behavior impacting an endangered species, the Smalltooth Sawfish, our level of concern increased rather significantly,” said Dr. Michael Crosby with Mote Marine in Sarasota.
A sawfish was rescued from the Florida Keys last week, a first for researchers who have been trying to find the answer to what has been killing the endangered animal.
“We were very fortunate and very successful in this rescue operation and this animal was brought back to our facility in the Keys and it was then placed into an initial stabilization tank,” said Crosby.
The 11.15 ft male sawfish was taken to a temporary holding tank on April 5 before being taken to the Mote Marine Laboratory’s facility Thursday morning.
CREDIT: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission CREDIT: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission CREDIT: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission CREDIT: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission
Mote estimates there are fewer than 3,000 of the animals left in the wild.
“Led by NOAA, our biologists and partners have taken an unprecedented step to rescue an adult smalltooth sawfish in the Keys. This has not been attempted before, but this unusual mortality event made this necessary,” said Gil McRae, Director of FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. “We are hopeful this rescue and rehabilitation of an adult smalltooth sawfish will bring us one step closer to understanding the cause of this event.”
The sawfish will continue to be monitored and treated in hopes of healing enough to be rereleased into the wild.
Researchers continue to search for answers as to what is killing the endangered species.
Related video: Something is killing endangered sawfish in Florida, but what is it?
“Unknown, rare occurrence, we really haven’t seen anything like this before,” Dr. Michael Parsons of Florida Gulf Coast University told NBC affiliate WTVJ.
“All of us obviously want to know why it’s happening and if there’s anything that can be done about it,” another member of the team, Dr. Dean Grubbs of Florida State University, said.
According to WTVJ, sawfish aren’t the only victims of the fishy mystery. Other species in the Florida Keys are also behaving erratically, including snappers, snooks, and groupers. The animals have reportedly been swimming in circles, “which becomes a death spiral to the bottom.”
Parsons, an expert on dinoflagellate algae, single-cell organisms, one of which causes red tide, told WTVJ he believes a different species of algae could be behind the recent uptick in sawfish deaths.
However, as of now, the cause remains a mystery.
“I think we need to really keep our investigative minds open for what the causative agents are and it may be that we are not going to determine anytime soon what is causing this,” said Crosby.
Smalltooth sawfish are endangered under the Endangered Species Act, becoming the first marine fish to receive federal protection as an endangered species in 2003, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
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