An extremely rare fish was caught off the Naples Fishing Pier last week in Southwest Florida. As the angler reeled in his catch a MASSIVE crowd began to gather, realizing that something special was happening. By the time they got the endangered species to the shoreline a mob of people had gathered around to see what was happening, and I’m jealous as hell that I wasn’t there to see this in person.
I’ve always dreamed of seeing one of these in the wild. They are native to my region of Florida but the critically endangered Smalltooth Sawfish has been fished to near extinction, and seeing one in the wild these days is almost unheard of. Once prevalent throughout South Florida’s shallow warm waters, the bill of the Smalltooth Sawfish became a prized mantle piece by collectors, with every Floridian wanting that long tooth-covered razor sharp bill sitting on their bookcase. Obviously this wasn’t good for the health of the species, and before long the sawfish was almost unseen in the state of Florida due to over-fishing.
In the past I’ve only ever seen these guys in aquariums (I actually saw one a few weeks ago at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta), and I was very serious when I said that I’ve always wanted to see one of these in person. It’s one of the most unique species in the ocean, just check this shit out if you don’t believe me:
The Huffington Post reports that the Smalltooth Sawfish can grow up to 18-feet long, and weigh up to 700-pounds. So it’s hard to say whether or not this was a fully grown specimen caught in Naples, Florida or of it was just a few years old (it’s still MASSIVE).
For more on this story just follow that link above and head on over to The Huffington Post!