Fishing in the area remains open, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises against harvesting distressed or dead animals. It also says swimming where there are dead fish is not recommended.
What's causing the spinning and deaths?
Officials don't yet know what's causing the strange behavior, but Crosby said it could be a toxin or a parasite.
"It almost seems as if it is a neurological response to some kind of agent," he said. "Not at all sure what it is yet, [the] scientific community has not identified a smoking gun as of yet."
There are no signs of a communicable pathogen, and specimens were negative for bacterial infection, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Scientists also don't believe dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH or temperature are behind the strange behaviors and deaths. Water samples have also come up negative for Red Tide toxins.
Sawfish, which can be found in shallow, coastal waters, are an endangered type of ray — a fish type that has no bones, according to NOAA. Instead, sawfish skeletons are made of cartilage.
Sawfish can grow to be 16 feet long and weigh several hundred pounds. The affected sawfish have been between 7 and 14 feet in length, according to NOAA.
Florida officials say other types of rays and fish with bones are also being impacted by the strange spinning. Some of the affected species are: Atlantic stingray, bonnethead shark, goliath grouper, gray snapper, gray triggerfish, lemon shark, nurse shark and scaled sardine.
From the article:
Fishing in the area remains open, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission advises against harvesting distressed or dead animals. It also says swimming where there are dead fish is not recommended.
What's causing the spinning and deaths?
Officials don't yet know what's causing the strange behavior, but Crosby said it could be a toxin or a parasite.
"It almost seems as if it is a neurological response to some kind of agent," he said. "Not at all sure what it is yet, [the] scientific community has not identified a smoking gun as of yet."
There are no signs of a communicable pathogen, and specimens were negative for bacterial infection, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said. Scientists also don't believe dissolved oxygen, salinity, pH or temperature are behind the strange behaviors and deaths. Water samples have also come up negative for Red Tide toxins.
Sawfish, which can be found in shallow, coastal waters, are an endangered type of ray — a fish type that has no bones, according to NOAA. Instead, sawfish skeletons are made of cartilage.
Sawfish can grow to be 16 feet long and weigh several hundred pounds. The affected sawfish have been between 7 and 14 feet in length, according to NOAA.
Florida officials say other types of rays and fish with bones are also being impacted by the strange spinning. Some of the affected species are: Atlantic stingray, bonnethead shark, goliath grouper, gray snapper, gray triggerfish, lemon shark, nurse shark and scaled sardine.