{"id":37437,"date":"2024-04-16T13:10:09","date_gmt":"2024-04-16T11:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/6315e096-6e87-4f96-ad11-eb19e72b6288"},"modified":"2024-04-16T14:35:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:35:44","slug":"fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/rss_feed\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why\/","title":{"rendered":"Fish are mysteriously spinning in circles and dying in Florida. And scientists don’t know why"},"content":{"rendered":"

Experts are getting involved to get to the bottom of the worrying phenomenon\u00a0that is killing Florida’s critically endangered smalltooth sawfish. <\/p>

By <\/p>

Published: Tuesday, 16 April 2024 at 11:10 AM<\/p>

\n\n

It sounds like something from a horror movie: the victim starts behaving erratically, inexplicably spinning in circles and sometimes ending up dead. <\/p>

But this strange demise is a real phenomenon that has been affecting\u00a0critically endangered smalltooth sawfish in the Florida Keys.\u00a0<\/p>

Scientists are baffled by this strange behaviour, which has hit over 100 sawfish (both adults and juveniles), with 38 confirmed deaths as of 11\u00a0April 2024. <\/p>

\u201cWe suspect that total mortalities are greater, since sawfish are negatively buoyant and thus unlikely to float after death,\u201d said Adam Brame, NOAA Fisheries<\/a>\u2019 sawfish recovery coordinator, in a\u00a0 statement<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>

Researchers analyse a smalltooth sawfish. Credit: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>

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Mystery of the spinning sawfish\u00a0<\/h2>
Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata<\/em>) are an odd-looking fish \u2013 imagine stretching out the flat body of a ray into shark-like proportions then strapping a chainsaw blade onto its nose. <\/p>
They were once found along the US coastline between Texas and North Carolina but now only tend to be found in Florida. They were the first fish to be listed \u2013 and so granted protections \u2013 under the USA\u2019s\u00a0Endangered Species Act<\/a>\u00a0in 2003. <\/p>
Smalltooth sawfish live in shallow subtropical waters in coastal and estuarine parts of the Atlantic. Credit: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>
The population had been recovering but is still very small, so these mysterious deaths could be catastrophic.<\/p>
Scientists haven\u2019t yet figured out why these fish are spinning but they want to get to the bottom of the mystery as quickly as they can. <\/p>
An\u00a0 investigation<\/a>\u00a0and emergency rescue and release mission has been launched.<\/p>
$\"\"$
38 smalltooth sawfish have been confirmed dead as of 11\u00a0April 2024. Credit: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Rescue and release mission<\/h2>
The first patient \u2013 an 11-foot male smalltooth sawfish \u2013 was reported by a member of the public who noticed it swimming in circles in Cudjoe Bay and phoned the Sawfish\u00a0Hotline<\/a>. <\/p>
A team of experts from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission<\/a> and Mote Marine Laboratory<\/a> responded: taking samples, measuring and tagging the fish before taking it to Mote\u2019s quarantine facilities for monitoring, treatment and rehabilitation.\u00a0<\/p>
This is the first ever rescue and rehabilitation attempt of a wild smalltooth sawfish and it\u2019s not an easy task. <\/p>
The fish needed respiratory assistance as it was taken by boat to a temporary holding tank. The rescuers then had to make sure it would be able to endure the seven-hour drive to Mote Marine Lab before they loaded it onto a special trailer for the long journey. <\/p>
It was kept under observation by biologists from Ripley\u2019s Aquariums throughout the trip. It is now said to be recovering.\u00a0<\/p>
Although the logistics of a complex operation like this are challenging, it\u2019s worth it to save as many of the distressed sawfish as possible and discover what\u2019s causing this mystery, explains Dr. Michael P. Crosby, Mote President & CEO in a\u00a0 comment<\/a>:\u00a0\u201cIn the end, our goal is to release healthy sawfish back into the wild.\u201d<\/p>
$\"\"$
Mote and FWC respond to distressed smalltooth sawfish on April 5, 2024 in the Lower Keys. The 15.5ft female was attended to by staff where she was administered vitamins and antibiotics, measured, given an acoustic tag and immediately released. Credit: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Images and video credits: FWC Fish and Wildlife Research Institute<\/a><\/em><\/p>
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Experts are getting involved to get to the bottom of the worrying phenomenon\u00a0that is killing Florida’s critically endangered smalltooth sawfish. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":37438,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why.jpg",1575,1050,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why-1024x683.jpg",800,534,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why-1536x1024.jpg",1536,1024,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/04\/fish-are-mysteriously-spinning-in-circles-and-dying-in-florida-and-scientists-dont-know-why.jpg",1575,1050,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Experts are getting involved to get to the bottom of the worrying phenomenon\u00a0that is killing Florida's critically endangered smalltooth sawfish.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/37437"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37438"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37437"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37437"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Mystery of the spinning sawfish\u00a0<\/h2>Smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata<\/em>) are an odd-looking fish \u2013 imagine stretching out the flat body of a ray into shark-like proportions then strapping a chainsaw blade onto its nose. <\/p>