National Geographic spoke to FSUCML's Dr. Dean Grubbs about the investigation into what was causing unusual behavior in smalltooth sawfish and efforts to help this critically endangered species.

Bringing back the sawfish Florida adopted protections in 1992 and the U.S. population of sawfish was the nation’s first native marine fish listed under the Endangered Species Act in 2003. By that time, the fish were only found in pockets of Southwest Florida, said Dean Grubbs, associate director of research and a research professor at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory.

“It’s distressing to see the animals dead and dying,” said Dean Grubbs, the associate director of research at Florida State University’s Coastal and Marine Laboratory. Grubbs is also a member of the sawfish recovery team and was on the boat last week when the crew caught the healthy sawfish.

This grant will fund her project on smalltooth sawfish in Cape Canaveral. The primary objective of this project is to define critical habitat, including potential mating areas, for large juvenile and adult smalltooth sawfish in the USA. This is intended to have immediate use in species conservation actions and decisions.

In a dedicated effort to protect coastal and marine habitats and species, the Guy Harvey Foundation (GHF) has awarded a Florida State University student the inaugural Guy Harvey Fellowship. Annais Muschett-Bonilla, a doctoral student in the College of Arts and Sciences, received a $5,000 research stipend and certificate personally designed and signed by Guy Harvey, world-renowned marine wildlife artist, conservationist and GHF Founder/Chair Emeritus.

Last month, members of the Grubbs lab traveled to the Florida Keys, in collaboration with members of the Bimini Biological Field Station, for routine smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) sampling.

Dr. Sandra Brooke, Dr. Josh Breithaupt, and Dr. Dean Grubbs were among the many scientists who contributed to the "Results and Impacts of the First Decade of the Florida RESTORE Act Centers of Excellence Program" report. This report covers a variety of fields and projects within Florida in the aftermath of the BP Horizon Oil Spill.

Andres and her team of researchers on the newly minted Crystal River Bull Shark Project started fishing for sharks in August and began tracking their movements two months later. Since the team began, they have caught 27 baby bulls and are monitoring 10 of them with special acoustic tags that map where in the river a shark has traveled.

There have been more than 50 sightings of sick or dead sawfish in the Lower Keys since November, according to the Florida Wildlife Commission. Despite ongoing efforts, researchers have yet to determine the cause but are actively testing the animals and collecting samples. #FloridaKeys #sawfish #research

"There are five species of sawfish in the world. That's it. And they're all listed as endangered or critically endangered,” said Dean Grubbs, a Florida State University fish ecologist and a member of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s sawfish recovery team. “So an occurrence like this, where all of a sudden quite a few large animals are dying inexplicably, is of great concern.”