ISLAMORADA, Fla. – The carcass of another dead smalltooth sawfish was pulled from the waters off Islamorada this week.
“We thought it was a swordfish at first, but then the closer that we looked, we realized it was a sawfish,” Mark Hind and Matthew DiMatteo told Local 10 News. “And a rather large one.”
Hind and DiMatteo were wrapping up their weeklong trip in the Keys, but the men had no idea of the significance of what they were witnessing.
“It had obviously been passed away for awhile… at least days anyway,” the men explained as they remarked on the smell of the dead animal.
The first death of an endangered small tooth sawfish was reported in January, but for months concerned residents and visitors have been sharing videos and images of sawfish that have been struggling and distressed.
Some sawfish have even beached themselves in the nearshore waters in the Lower Keys. But now distressed sawfish have been seen as far north as the Boynton Beach Inlet.
More than 40 other fish species have also been documented spinning and acting erratically, some have even turned up dead.
Scientists have identified multiple toxins in dead fish and elevated levels of gambierdiscus in water samples, but there is still no smoking gun to why this is happening.
As of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s last update on Wednesday, 28 dead smalltooth sawfish have now been documented. Today’s sawfish is believed to be the 29th.
“It’s heartbreaking,” explained NOAA’s Sawfish Recovery Coordinator Adam Brame. “Seeing this number of mortalities is unprecedented.”
In reaction to the mounting death toll, on Wednesday NOAA announced that it will launch an emergency response. The effort will kick off Monday along with partners from FWC and the MOTE Marine Lab in Summerland Key to rescue and rehabilitate sawfish seen in distress. The collaboration is critical for the survival of the endangered species.
“The population levels are so low, that losing you know several dozen to 100 of the sawfish in the Florida Keys could not just more significantly compromise the population,” explained the President and CEO of MOTE, Dr. Michael P. Crosby. “But it just could be the knockout punch.”
The fear is that the number of dead sawfish that have been found, may only represent a portion of the mortality.
FWC provided Local 10 with an updated statement on Thursaday, which can be read below:
“FWC is involved the rescue attempt of a smalltooth sawfish that is being planned and we are hoping for the best outcome. As far as more spinning whirling fish we just ask that folks make reports to our fish kill hotline at 800-636-0511 because these reports are an essential part of the investigation into the event.”
HOW YOU CAN HELP
Report sightings of healthy, sick, injured or dead sawfish to FWC’s Sawfish Hotline. Include date, time and location of the encounter, estimated length, water depth and any other relevant details.
- 1-844-4SAWFISH (1-844-472-9347)
Report sightings of abnormal fish behavior, fish disease, or fish kills to FWC’s Fish Kill Hotline.
- Call 800-636-0511