Florida fish are ‘spinning, whirling’ to their deaths: What we know

Fish in South Florida are dying after displaying abnormal “spinning and whirling” behavior.

According to a statement from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the endangered smalltooth sawfish‘s odd behavior is leaving scientists baffled. They spin and while in areas around the Florida Keys before they mysteriously die, and researchers don’t know why.

“Based on fish necropsy data to date, there are no signs of a communicable pathogen, and specimens were negative for bacterial infection,” the statement says.

The FWC says that it does not suspect the cause has a link to oxygen levels of the water either.