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Sharks And Rays Australia
Australia is home to some of the last significant populations of sawfish on the planet. We need your help to find out how many are left.
- In December 2023, the world’s five sawfish species were reassessed as ‘critically endangered’ on the IUCN Red List.
- Four of the five species – Freshwater sawfish, Narrow sawfish, Dwarf sawfish and Green sawfish – are found in north Australian waters, but ‘proof of life’ is limited to isolated pockets in Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory.
- During National Sawfish Sighting Week 2024 (26 October – 2 November), citizen scientists are needed to help spot these rare and endangered creatures or, just as importantly, report back if they are nowhere to be seen. Registration closes Friday 25 October: https://www.sharksandraysaustralia.com/sawfish-week-registration/
Forty years ago, sawfish were regularly spotted in Australia’s tropical and subtropical waters, as far south as Sydney Harbour. Today, the shark-like rays, easily distinguished by their saw-like snouts which can extend up to two metres (about the length of a Queen-size bed), are rarely seen outside the Gulf of Carpentaria, Northern Territory and the Kimberley.
“With sawfish habitats disappearing globally, we’re in a race against time to find out where these magnificent creatures still exist, and in what numbers,” says zoologist and sawfish expert Dr Barbara Wueringer.
The founder and principal scientist of Sharks And Rays Australia (SARA), a nonprofit research organisation headquartered in Cairns, is calling for citizen scientists across Australia’s north to step during National Sawfish Sighting Week (26 October – 2 November). Register here.
The event is open to participants in Western Australia (from Perth, up the west coast), Northern Territory and Queensland (as far south as Brisbane). Public sightings can also be submitted throughout the year via SARA’s website.
“For four out of five sawfish species, north Australian waters may contain their last populations, and we can’t let them quietly disappear,” Dr Wueringer says. “This is why we want as many people as possible to register and join the search party during National Sawfish Sighting Week.”
Participants who register by Friday 25 October will go in a draw to win “a trip of a lifetime”joining SARA scientists on a 2025 expedition through Queensland’s wild north, up to Cape York Peninsula.
Dr Barbara Wueringer is
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