An extraordinary marine creature thought to be long lost along the eastern coasts has reappeared and washed ashore again. The large sawfish, with a body resembling a guitar and a long structure extending from its snout, was recorded as a rare sighting in the region’s memories. This event reminded us of the existence of a species associated with an unknown time period.
On September 19th, the lifeless body of the fish, approximately 3 meters long, was found at the mouth of the Birha River off the eastern Cape coasts and washed ashore. Mike Vincent was the first to notice the fish. While walking on the beach, he shared photographs of this extraordinary creature with Kevin Cole, a naturalist at the Eastern London Museum in the area. Cole described this moment as surreal and sat down to closely examine this long-snouted creature. Although it resembles a shark, this creature is classified as a type of ray; its most striking feature is the chain-like saw structure extending from its snout.
The long snout is used to stun prey and search for food on the seabed. The specimen washed ashore is not a live animal but is considered a strong indicator that the species still exists. There is no definitive answer as to why it died. Although it has a noticeable bite mark on its body, this injury is not believed to have originated from a terrestrial animal. As no DNA sample could be taken, the exact cause of death cannot be determined; efforts are ongoing to infer this from visual examinations.
This discovery is seen as an important development for a species that is critically endangered. Sawfish once inhabited tropical and subtropical seas and occasionally reached freshwater regions. The last recorded sighting off the coast of South Africa was in 1999, which strengthened the assumption that they no longer inhabit these waters. However, this surprising encounter rekindled hopes that the species has not been completely eradicated.
