Rescued smalltooth sawfish recovering at Florida marine lab
MIAMI - An endangered smalltooth sawfish, rescued off Cudjoe Key, is recovering at the Mote Marine Lab.
Members of the marine lab and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers were sent to Cudjoe Bay in the Keys on Friday, April 5th, after someone called the sawfish hotline and reported the animal swimming in circles.
After completing a quick field assessment that included taking samples, measurements, and tagging the 11-foot male, they decided to rescue it.
The sawfish was loaded onto a vessel and provided respiratory assistance during the short boat ride to a temporary holding tank at a Mote facility in the Lower Keys.
This was the first.
"Led by NOAA, our biologists and partners have taken an unprecedented step to rescue an adult smalltooth sawfish in the Keys. This has not been attempted before, but this unusual mortality event made this necessary," said Gil McRae, Director of FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute in a statement. "We are hopeful this rescue and rehabilitation of an adult smalltooth sawfish will bring us one step closer to understanding the cause of this event."
After several days of treatment, they were able to stabilize the animal.
On Thursday, April 11, 2024, biologists carefully loaded the sawfish into a transport trailer and drove it to another quarantine facility designed to provide more extensive rehabilitation treatment for sawfish.
Endangered smalltooth sawfish have been exhibiting erratic spinning behavior and dying in unusual numbers in Florida waters. Since late January, state wildlife officials have been documenting what they call an "unusual mortality event" that has affected about 109 sawfish and killed at least 28 of them. There have been reports of abnormal behavior, such as the fish seen spinning or whirling in the water. Other species of fish also appear to have been affected.
Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium said in a news release that even relatively small numbers of sawfish deaths could have a major impact on the population, listed as endangered since 2003.
