6 rare sawfish deaths in just 7 days in Florida

[Fishmanic]

Reminds me of a “whirling” condition in one of my tetras resulting in its death.
CNN Article
Possible cause is toxins from algae called Gambierdiscus
If this continues it may have a negative effect on the ecosystem.
@Colin_T

 

[Colin_T]

I saw something on YouTube a few months ago, same deal, fish spinning in the waters around Florida.

It's unlikely to be Gambierdiscus species because they naturally occur in seawater and big predatory fishes like tuna, barracuda, mackerel, etc, regularly carry Gambierdiscus sp. That's why when you are fishing in the tropics, you don't take really big fish and you ask the locals if it's safe to eat the fish in the area. If ciguatera poisoning (caused by eating fish contaminated with Gambierdiscus sp) is occurring in the area, the locals will tell you not to eat fish from certain areas. Ciguatera poisoning has been around for years and I did a talk on it back in the mid 90s and it was well known back then. It doesn't kill the host fish but does kill people.

It's not an issue to do with low oxygen levels in the water, fish tend to gasp in that situation and you regularly see large numbers of fish gasping at the surface at the same time.

Spinning/ spiraling through the water is something to do with the brain, and usually occurs from a protozoan, bacterial or viral infection in the brain. In warmer water (25-30C), these microscopic organisms reproduce faster and if you have lots in the water, more fish can be infected. If fish are run down from a dirty environment, pollution, etc, they will be more prone to infections and more likely to die from them.

Some poisons can cause fish to spin through the water too but apparently the water has been tested for poisons and they didn't find anything.

I will put my money on warmer water and pollution weakening the fish and encouraging harmful disease organisms that are affecting the fish.
Welcome to global warming and the end of the world.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. The reason for these deaths doesn't take a marine biologist to determine. This is a change in water chemistry. Warming ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, more frequent storms, more unpredictable storms and dry periods. All this together is climate change. It's not just the Sawfish. It's everything. The habitat of everything that lives in the water is being affected.

10

 

[Colin_T]

The habitat of everything on land is also being affected. The native trees and plants around here are dying is massive numbers due to lack of water. In 10 years time, the southern half of Western Australia will be nothing but desert with no rain, no native animals, no birds, no fish, and shortly after that, no people.

The Great Barrier Reef and the Ningaloo Reef have both had coral bleaching last summer (over the last 6 months). The human race has 5 years to stop global warming or we're all dead by 2050.

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello again. That's a very dark outlook. But, I do understand your concern. I believe we have much more time than that, but this time doesn't give us the luxury of not doing more to clean up our act.

10