Sawfish recovers after being removed from tainted Keys waters

Scientists in Sarasota have revived a smalltooth sawfish that was suffering from toxic poisoning when it was found last week in the Florida Keys.

Mote Marine Laboratory and Aquarium in Sarasota staff and scientists with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission responded on April 5 to a report of a sawfish acting oddly in Cudjoe Bay in the Florida Keys

The group was able to secure the endangered fish and take it to a nearby holding tank.

Several sawfish have been captured on video and reported to FWC in the Florida Keys since last fall.

They have a condition called “whirling,” which is when fish swim in circular patterns at the surface of the water.

“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, where it was under ‘round-the-clock observation by qualified personnel,” a press release from the Mote Marine Laboratory says.

Mike Parsons, a Florida Gulf Coast University researcher and professor, has been tracking the situation in the Keys and believes the fish kills are due to elevated ciguatera levels. The toxin comes from the organism Gambierdiscus toxicus and is passed up the food chain.

Fish removed from tainted waters in the Florida Keys have recovered

He said earlier this week that fish found in tainted waters often recovered when removed from those waters and taken to other areas, which is one reason Parsons and others think an aquatic toxin is behind the deaths.

The sawfish was eventually taken to Mote’s Sarasota facility.

“While the animal was successfully rescued and received crucial stabilizing care, it remained in critical condition,” a press release from Mote says. “After several days of treatment and monitoring, the team decided that the animal appeared capable of withstanding the several-hour drive to another Mote quarantine facility designed to provide more extensive rehabilitation treatment for sawfish.”

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PROVIDED BY MOTE MARINE LABORATORY AND AQUARIUM Biologists conduct a field examination of an endangered smalltooth sawfish that was recovered in the Florida Keys on April 5. The fish have been suffering from a condition known as “whirling,” which is when fish swim in circles at the surface before dying.