The curious cause of Florida ’s sawfish is uphold to evade explanation . Researchers have been work on hard to recover the understanding why sawfish in the Florida Keys are unpredictably spinning around and dying nut - masse , but their tests have yet to reveal a culprit .
Since the drop of 2023 , theFlorida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission(FWC ) has collected C of reports of smalltooth sawfish ( Pristis pectinata ) in the Florida Keys exhibiting “ unnatural fish doings ” , including thrashing around and swirling in circles . As of tardy May 2024 , they ’ve documented 50 sawfish deaths too .
The FWC launch a first - of - its - kindemergency answer effortto forbid extra deaths in March 2024 . This involved extensive examination of 250 chemicals in the water , as well as taste of fish tissue from necropsies .
A smalltooth sawfish impacted by the recent event in the Florida Keys.Image credit:FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute/Flickr(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
So far , nothing strange has been rule , intensify the mystery .
All test chemicals in the water were either not notice or were below any biologic thresholds , with most being below minimum detection boundary , while the fish necropsy data so far has not show any apparent sign of a transmittable pathogen or a bacterial transmission .
The FWC also does n’t believe the water ’s dissolved oxygen degree , saltiness , pH , or temperature are a cistron .
One of the main suspect the FWC had initially highlighted was toxicred lunar time period , a harmful algal flower that produces toxins be intimate to make neurologic problems for fish and other animals . However , their tests have suggested this factor is n’t at child’s play .
However , other harmful algal species and their associated toxins have been detect in samples of the piddle , ocean bottom , and fish tissue paper . While it ’s a hopeful boulevard to explore , the FWC accentuate that “ more workplace is need to determine if this is the cause of the unusual behavior . ”
Likewise , test for big metals in the pee , as well as blood and tissue samples of the sawfish , are still under analytic thinking and pending results .
With their long , flat snout that is line with piercing transversal tooth , sawfish look like a half - shark and half - chainsaw . Their strange adage snouts are used to hunt ; along with helping them dig around sediment seabeds , it alsoemits an electrical fieldthat help them encounter prey . Taxonomically , they belong to the subclass Elasmobranchii alongside sharks , rays , and skates .
There are at least five species of sawfish , all of which arecritically queer with extinction – a fact that makes the plight of Florida ’s smalltooth sawfish all the more urgent .
