As rare sawfish mysteriously die in the Florida Keys, an unprecedented rescue begins

Over the past three years, state and federal wildlife officials have been forced to make extraordinary decisions to save imperiled Florida wildlife.

In 2021, wildlife experts approved a first-ever feeding trial for starving manatees. Biologists fed sea cows lettuce because their main food source, seagrass, was in short supply from human-caused pollution.

Last year, facing perhaps the most widespread coral bleaching crisis in Florida history, scientists raced to rescue corals from scorching offshore ocean temperatures. The mass evacuation of coral was the first of its kind.

The latest decision — to rescue a species on the brink — begins next week in the Florida Keys. It may be the most complicated rescue effort to date.

Reports of odd fish spinning behavior and unusual swirling began in November. It started with erratic pinfish, a popular bait species used by anglers on both the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. But by January, biologists had their first confirmed report of a dead smalltooth sawfish, the first marine fish to earn federal protections in 2003. Videos surfaced of sawfish spinning in circles throughout Florida’s southern islands, an abnormal behavior that scientists believe is a sign of distress.

As sawfish deaths have mounted to north of two dozen and more than 100 affected, an emergency federal attempt to track down and rescue sick sawfish will initiate next week. A hotline designed to log sightings has been ringing daily in the Keys. Now, scientists will try to find fish in trouble, catch them and bring them to one of at least three facilities for recovery.

The effort will be led by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and include Florida’s state wildlife agency.

“People do these rescues for sea turtles, dolphins and manatees all the time. But it’s never been done for a 14-foot sawfish before,” said Tonya Wiley, team leader of the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Team and director of Palmetto-based Havenworth Coastal Conservation. “We’re blazing a trail here.”

Wiley has spent two decades researching sawfish in Tampa Bay and beyond. She’s seen nothing like this.

“This is definitely the most devastating singular event for sawfish in my 23 years of studying them,” she said.

As of Thursday, the die-off has killed 28 endangered sawfish and responders have logged more than 360 reports to the fish kill hotline, according to the latest Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission data.

What’s causing the deaths is a mystery. State animal necropsies to date have shown no signs of pathogens or bacteria, though sawfish tissue continues to be tested. Water oxygen levels, salt content and temperature are not currently suspected to be the cause, either. And wildlife experts haven’t found any toxins produced by red tide blooms.

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State wildlife biologists have sent 52 fish and a dozen sawfish samples to the University of South Alabama for further study.

“It’s frustrating, not knowing what we can do to help the situation,” said Adam Brame, the sawfish recovery coordinator for the National Marine Fisheries Services. Brame is leading the first-of-its-kind rescue operation in the Keys. “This is an unprecedented event, and to some degree, it’s an unprecedented response.”

Tracking down sick mammals like whales and dolphins comes with a built-in hint: The animals have to come up for air. But sawfish have gills, so no surfacing is required. That makes spotting and moving them especially tricky, and it might not be as simple as bringing a sick sawfish onto a boat and relocating it, Brame said.

Depending on the situation, researchers may have to put the animals in a sling, or perhaps tow them in a vessel, Brame said. A lot of details are still being worked out, and each recovery will largely depend on the animal’s location, condition and a slew of other factors.

Another big question mark right now is funding. Wiley’s role in the operation is to lock in money so that responders can eat, sleep and travel in the Keys during their recovery efforts. A dream number for the operation would, for now, be around $250,000, she said.

In Sarasota, Mote Marine Laboratory & Aquarium stands ready as one of three facilities that will take in sick sawfish captured in the wild. The duration of the stay for sawfish at Mote and other rehabs depends on how sick each fish might be. The other two facilities that could house sawfish are Ripley’s Aquariums and Marathon-based Dynasty Marine Associates Inc.

“We are eager to aid in the effort to help this endangered species, and we will do everything we can to prioritize the well-being of sawfish,” said Kathryn Flowers, Mote’s lead scientist for the sawfish initiative. “Attempts to solve this mystery call for robust collaboration.”

If you’d like to help the sawfish research or rescue efforts, you can donate to the cause by visiting sawfishrecovery.org.

To report a sawfish sighting, email Sawfish@MyFWC.com or call 844-472-9347.