A large sawfish that showed signs of distress was rescued by wildlife officials in the Florida Keys, where more than three dozen ancient and endangered fish have died of unexplained causes in recent months.
The 11-foot smalltooth sawfish was spotted swimming in circles near Cudjoe Key and reported by a member of the public to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, officials said Friday. It was loaded onto a specially designed transport trailer and taken to the Mote Marine Laboratory in Sarasota, where it is being rehabilitated.
The unprecedented rescue of an animal like this is part of an “emergency response” led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and wildlife officials in Florida to address an unprecedented die-off of the sawfish, a species related to in sharks and rays that are almost unchanged. for millions of years.
“It’s important to remember that active rescue and rehabilitation is not always effective in saving stranded animals,” said Adam Brame, sawfish recovery coordinator for NOAA. “However, it can still provide us with critical information to learn about the nature of anxiety.”
Sawfish, named for their long snouts with rows of teeth on each side, were once found throughout the Gulf of Mexico and south Atlantic coasts of the US, but are now confined mainly to southwest Florida and in the Keys island chain as their habitats shrink. A related species is found off Australia.
In Florida, there have been reports of abnormal behavior, such as fish being seen circling or spinning in the water. Other fish species also appear to have been affected but officials have not yet determined the cause. Sawfish necropsies did not reveal any pathogenic or bacterial infections, or problems with low oxygen levels in the water or contaminants such as chemicals, or toxic red tide. Water testing continues.
Another potential factor is climate change, which warmed Florida’s waters last summer, causing other marine damage, such as coral bleaching and the death of other marine species. The water is unusually warm this year as well.
It’s harder to rehabilitate an animal like a sawfish than an air-breathing sea creature, like a dolphin or manatee, officials said.
“This has never been tried before, but this unusual mortality event made it necessary,” said Gil McRae, Director of the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute. “We hope that the rescue and rehabilitation of an adult smalltooth sawfish will bring us one step closer to understanding the cause of this event.”
