Florida wildlife officials to necropsy 20 dead sawfish found in Florida Keys

TAMPA, Fla. - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission along with researchers are trying to figure out what caused the deaths of 20 endangered sawfish found in the Florida Keys within the last six weeks. Some researchers believe an algae toxin may be causing the deaths, but still no one is sure.

Smalltooth sawfish are typically around 11 or 12 feet long and swim like sharks, but are actually a type of Ray and known for their long, flattened, toothed rostrum that looks like a saw. Seeing one is a majestic sight and usually extremely rare, but it's been more common and that's not good for the species which is used to deep waters.

"A number of them have been essentially beaching themselves. They're coming in really shallow, so shallow they can't swim," said Dr. Dean Grubbs, the associate director of research for Florida State University's Coastal and Marine Laboratory. "They're also showing really odd behaviors, like swimming in circles."

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Grubbs was just in the Florida Keys last month doing research when he came across one of the 20 dead sawfish.

"The rostrum is up out of the water, kind of swiping at the air as they swim in circles. Right now, we still don't have any idea, you know, what's causing it," Grubbs said.

Since 1992, Smalltooth sawfish have been protected from harvest in Florida, and since 2003, listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

"We don't like to see a single animal die, whether it's killed by somebody on a beach or caught in a net or whatever it might be," Grubbs said. "We don't want to see any of them die if we can help it, and so to see such a a significant number of them dying in a short time is a huge concern to me, my colleagues and my graduate students."

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It's a major hit to the population, considering the latest estimates show there are only about 450 female sawfish in Florida waters, according to Grubbs.

"It has to be something in the environment, something in the water. Most other causes wouldn't affect so many animals in an episodic way where it happens so quickly to so many animals and so it has to be something environmental," Grubbs said.

To help with the problem, last month, Dr. Grubbs and some of his grad students installed GPS trackers on 11 sawfish in the Florida Keys to monitor their movements and better understand what's happening to them.

"Everybody who sees one they're just amazed, and they feel fortunate to be able to see such a crazy, otherworldly animal that lives in our waters, and so we obviously want to keep them in our waters," Grubbs said.

FWC is currently in the process of completing necropsies on the 20 dead sawfish. If there is an algae toxin that may be causing their deaths, it would show up in the results. It could take up to four to six weeks before we could know more.

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