Since October 2023, Florida residents have witnessed 80 species of fish, including the endangered smalltooth sawfish, exhibiting erratic spinning behavior before succumbing to death. According to Jonathan Veach, communications specialist at the Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, the FWC has received and documented over 500 reports of symptomatic fish from partners and the public since November 2023. The majority of sawfish reports have been received from the Lower Keys; however, biologists have recorded cases up to the Florida panhandle. Over the past year, the bizarre and tragic phenomenon has claimed at least 54 sawfish, raising concern for the imperiled species. Experts suspect a toxic algal bloom as the primary cause, but much remains unknown.