Gregg Furstenwerth, a local diver, joined Good Morning Keys on KeysTalk 96.9/102.5FM this morning to talk about what’s been going on with the fish.
It was rather surprising after diving for many years in the Florida Keys for Furstenwerth to see fish swimming in circles and appear to be struggling.
The sawfish have been in crisis for in the county a while now.
Representative Jim Mooney recently found $2 million to provide the Fish and Wildlife Commission to study what’s going on.
Furstenwerth said, “Back in February of 2023, on Valentine’s Day, I actually noticed the fish whirling in a bait pen that I had. So I decided to take video of it then. That’s when I first noticed that and since then, I’ve noticed it more and more.”
He’s been a videographer for 14 years.
Furstenwerth admitted, “I’m a terrible fisherman. I can’t catch fish like most people can but I can definitely get them on video.”
What was the behavior of the fish like?
Furstenwerth said, “The only time I’ve ever seen fish spinning is when they are mating. So seeing them spin all on their own, and in erratic patterns like that, from side to side, up and down, was highly unusual. So in my normal operation, if I am looking at things, I will look for what’s unusual, because I find that to be interesting.”
How long has the behavior continued?
Furstenwerth said, “It continued for a little while. Then we started to see all that heat come in, which changed the fish behavior. So it was difficult to see for a period of time during all the bleaching that we had. With that, there was nothing to really see for a period of time, especially when we had that really dirty water come through. That blocked view for quite some time.”
Since then, the behavior has returned.
Furstenwerth said, “I’ve recorded quite a substantial number of fish doing this now. I reached out to FWC on Twitter, because I did not know exactly how to get their attention, and when I did that, they gave me upload access to their OneDrive. So I’ve uploaded quite a substantial amount of video to them.”
This type of behavior is like nothing Furstenwerth has ever seen before.
He said, “There is nothing in my experience that prepared me for what I am seeing here. I have not, under any circumstances, seen fish behave like this. The only time I’ve ever seen fish spinning, is when they’re mating and it’s clear that they’re mating. I’ve seen many, many different ecosystem problems from the septic injection on Maui to the ocean acidification and dissolution of shellfish at Penn Cove on Whidbey Island. Hawaii and Australia, and even in Washington State.”
Furstenwerth created a group on Facebook called The Spinning Fish Florida Keys.
He said, “It’s a group that you can just join, and I don’t have you answer any questions or anything to join, then you can just see what’s posted.”
There are probably 30 videos on the Facebook page.
Could whatever this is impact other species?
Furstenwerth said, “As far as my observation goes, I’ve seen manatees and they seem to be doing just fine, which means that they are a marine mammal. And we are a mammal. And I’ve been in the water since this started. So I don’t think there’s any problems with the mammals in that way. The sea turtles appear to be doing fine. I have not seen any issues with them, I see them with regularity. As to the birds, I have not seen any issues myself with them, the concern that I would have is if their food supply goes away.”
The fish population has diminished over time.
“They have dramatically diminished,” Furstenwerth said.
What about the fish swimming upside down?
Furstenwerth said, “They’ll spin and then they will end up upside down and then they’ll spin again and then they’ll end up upside down. It seems that when they end up upside down, that’s when they’re just fully exhausted after spinning anywhere from a minute and a half to five minutes.”
Is this crisis spreading to other areas?
Furstenwerth said, “Based off of legitimate entities that exist up in Key Largo, it is up there. It has gone that far. I did see the sawfish video from up at the Boynton inlet. I do believe that most of the frustration that is related to what’s going on with FWC, including my own, is related to their lack of funding for this matter and I do believe that things will get better and they will be handling the situation now that they have funding. I think during crisis it’s very easy to lose hope, based on my experience, but we’re a very strong community here and everybody cares.”
For videos of the fish, click here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1438019537141745