“Fish kills happen, unfortunately, all over the place,” Parson adds. “But in this case, we can't explain it by the usual causes. That's the strangeness of this event.”
Endangered species at risk
Of particular concern is the smalltooth sawfish, which have been listed on the U.S. Endangered Species Act since 2003 due to coastal development and bycatch. It’s one of just five species of sawfish globally, and the only one in U.S. waters. (Read: "Searching for the world's last remaining sawfish.")
As of early March, 21 sawfish have washed up dead, with reports of up to 60 distressed individuals, says Dean Grubbs, a fish ecologist at Florida State University who studies the species. On March 13, a distressed sawfish was spotted at Boynton Beach, roughly 200 miles north—a "disturbing" discovery so far north, he says.
“From the sawfish perspective, it's obviously a big concern just to have this many large animals die,” Grubbs says.
While smalltooth sawfish—which can reach lengths of 12 feet—historically occurred on both sides of the Atlantic, only two populations remain in the Bahamas and the U.S., the latter being larger. “That means the recovery of the species is pretty much dependent on the U.S. population,” Grubbs says.
“I don't think we have any clue yet whether this is something that will be over in a year, and we won't even know it happened, or [if it's] potentially catastrophic,” he says. “My hope for spreading the word is just that it gets out to more brain power."
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Fish along the Florida Keys are spinning in circles until they die—and no one knows why - National Geographic
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