Who saw this fish?

GEORGE NEWS - An old article from the 1955 George and Knysna Herald about a sawfish that was harpooned in Wilderness Lagoon back in February of that year was recently sourced, and has sparked much excitement among marine scientists.

They are raring to sink their teeth into some new data following the recent discovery of a 3m sawfish about 90km off the East London coast.

The species was believed to have been extinct, and there were no recorded sightings in the last 26 years.

This has also attracted interest from research teams who are studying the increased activity with orcas.

The carcass washed up at the Birha river mouth, with a sizable bite having been taken from its underside. Kevin Cole, a natural scientist at the East London Museum, received a phone call from a resident who had discovered the remains, and realising the rarity of the species, he sprang into action.

Sadly, the sawfish was in a state of active decay by the time Cole arrived, making it difficult to get an accurate idea of size, but the measurements from the tip of the toothed rostrum (beak-like snout) to the insert of the caudal fin were 2.93m, and it could soon be confirmed that this was a male largetooth sawfish.

Geremy Cliff, division head of the KwaZulu-Natal Sharks Board, has said the event is extremely significant, as the last documented sighting had been in 1999.

Sawfish live on the seabed and mostly eat shellfish, due to flat teeth designed for crushing. They also frequented river mouths and estuaries.

Dr Bernadine Everett, a scientist of the Oceanographic Research Institute, is also excited about the location of the latest find, saying that while they were predominantly found in KwaZulu-Natal, they only had a record of them having been found as far down as Port Alfred.

Cliff is now appealing to any fishermen and ocean lovers of the Garden Route to ask around among their parents and grandparents if anybody recalls having encountered sawfish down our area through the years.