1st FL Keys Sawfish Rescue Brings Hope Amid 40 Deaths

FLORIDA KEYS — An endangered smalltooth sawfish is recovering after nearly 40 of its kind have died since January, making it the first sawfish rescue for local wildlife officials.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said Wednesday that 38 sawfish have died of an unknown cause. Local 10 has reported six sawfish deaths in the past week.

The news comes when the commission reported abnormal "spinning" fish behavior in the Florida Keys since fall 2023. Some sawfish have spun before they died.

The commission is not sure what is causing the irregular behavior and deaths; however, 12 smalltooth sawfish tissue samples have been sent to the University of South Alabama for toxin analyses, officials said.

"Ongoing efforts involve the collection and analyses of water and tissue samples and coordinating the recovery of endangered smalltooth sawfish carcasses for necropsy, and initiating a rescue and rehabilitation response for smalltooth sawfish," the commission said in its latest report.

The first rescue of the 11-foot male sawfish on April 5 from Cudjoe Key came after someone reported the fish swimming in circles, the commission's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said Friday.

RELATED: Why Are FL Fish Spinning In Circles To Their Death?

After biologists evaluated the sawfish on scene, they loaded it onto a vessel and took it to a temporary holding tank, the commission said. It was taken Wednesday to the Mote Marine Laboratory for rehabilitation in Sarasota.

Wildlife officials had to wait until the sawfish was capable of surviving a seven-hour drive to the facility, they said. The sawfish must be in good health before returning to the wild, officials said.

“Led by (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), our biologists and partners have taken an unprecedented step to rescue an adult smalltooth sawfish in the Keys," Gil McRae, director of FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, said in a statement.

"This has not been attempted before, but this unusual mortality event made this necessary. 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.”

Wildlife officials said now that they have successfully completed their first rescue, they are looking to conduct other rescues.