Something unusual is going on in Florida ( well , unknown than usual ) . Critically endangered smalltooth sawfish have been spotted erratically gyrate and whirling around in the modest Florida Keys , while dozens more have exit under mysterious circumstances .
The situation has become so stern that the NOAA Fisheries has induct a first - of - its - kind exigency reception endeavour to forestall additional death . Together with several conversation organizations and aquariums , they plan on rescuing and rehabilitate the affect animate being in specialized quarantine facilities .
" If the opportunity present itself , this would be the first effort ever to rescue and rehabilitate smalltooth sawfish from the wild , " Adam Brame , NOAA Fisheries ' sawfish convalescence coordinator , said in astatement .
“ Our destination is to release all rescued sawfish back to the wild once rehabilitated , ” added Brame .
As of March 24 , 109 sawfish had been impacted by this event and there ’s been 28 documented death . It appears that most of the affected individual are large individuals measuring 2.1 to 4.3 meters ( 7 to 14 feet ) in length .
“ We suspect that full mortality are great , since sawfish are negatively floaty and thus unlikely to float after death . Given the modified population size of it of smalltooth sawfish , the mortality of at least two dozen sawfish could have an shock on the recuperation of this species , ” enjoin Brame .
With their tenacious , flavorless hooter that is lined with sharp transverse tooth , sawfish await like a half - shark and half - chain saw . Their strange saw rostrum are used to hunt ; along with helping them dig around sedimented seabeds , it alsoemits an electrical fieldthat helps them find quarry .
Taxonomically , they go to the subclass Elasmobranchii alongside sharks , rays , and skates . There are at least five species of sawfish , all of which arecritically endangered with extinction . The mintage having a hard metre in the Lower Florida Keys at the moment is thesmalltooth sawfish(Pristis pectinata ) .
Currently , everyone is stumped on what ’s causing the problem . The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has been carrying out sawfish autopsy , but has not found any evidence of infections , nor problems with low water supply oxygen levels , pollution , or toxic red lunar time period , allot tothe Associated Press . Water testing is on-going and they ’re even attempting to collect samples from live distressed sawfish .
While all options are still on the board , mood change may be a potential divisor . Last twelvemonth , South Florida ’s seawater temperature reacheda devastating 38.3 ° cytosine ( 101 ° atomic number 9 ) , around the same as a hot tub . With temperature as scorching as this , it ’s hard to imagine it ’s not having a openhanded impingement on the part ’s biodiversity .
