Endangered fish are “spinning” and dying en masse on a South Florida coast, baffling experts.
Dozens of black-tailed sawfish were found dead in the Lower Florida Keys, prompting baffled scientists to launch an “emergency response” to resolve the unusual behavior.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said Wednesday that the investigation effort was unprecedented.
“Given the opportunity, this would be the first ever attempt to rescue and recover a sawfish in the wild,” said Adam Blame, NOAA Fisheries sawfish recovery coordinator. said in a statement.
“It is important to note that active rescue and rehabilitation is not always effective in saving stranded animals. However, it still provides important information to understand the nature of the distress. There is a possibility of getting it.”
The smalltooth sawfish, named for its elongated, flat snout with a row of teeth on each side, lives primarily in southwestern Florida and the Keys, where it died in 2003 due to habitat shrinkage. It has been listed as an endangered species since .
The rare fish appears to have started killing itself in January, when state wildlife officials began recording “unusual fatalities.”
As of Wednesday, at least 109 sawfish had been affected, of which 28 had died. Hundreds of other species of fish are affected.
“We think the overall mortality rate may be even higher because sawfish have negative buoyancy and are less likely to float after death,” Blame said.
“Given the limited population of the short-shorn sawfish, the deaths of at least 24 saw-whet sawfishes could impact the recovery of this species.”
According to records, the sawfish was noted to be “spinning and circling” among other unusual behaviors. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
The cause of the strange behavior remains a mystery.
State officials said a necropsy of the sawfish showed no signs of pathogen or bacterial infection, nor were there problems with low water oxygen levels, pollutants such as chemicals or toxic red tide.
It’s also unclear whether the deaths and strange behavior are related to the long summer heat wave in Florida waters that experts say is caused by climate change. The overheated water caused other ocean damage, including coral bleaching and the death of other marine species.
Marine experts are working to determine the cause of the fatal accident and are already working to rescue and rehabilitate the affected sawfish in a quarantine facility.
All rescued fish are rehabilitated and released back into the wild.
Authorities are asking the public to report any unusual behavior they witness.
