Saving the Blue is one of our sponsored partners, and their work on smalltooth sawfish in Andros is some of the most important marine research happening in The Bahamas. Following their eDNA survey work across the island, educator Sami Dhanani returned to Andros this year with a different kind of survey, one built on classrooms and conversations. Here is his account from the field.

By Sami Dhanani, Educator, Saving the Blue

As smalltooth sawfish populations dwindle, one research team in The Bahamas is working to uncover information about this cryptic species while educating local communities on their importance. Saving the Blue, a nonprofit dedicated to shark and ray research and education in The Bahamas and the US, ran its latest trip this past May on the island of Andros. I joined team leader Sarontaa Bain with two goals in mind: engage and educate local children through school visits, introducing our new book "Sawfish Bradley", and speak with the wider community to learn about their recent experiences and interactions with this mysterious animal.

Expanding Education

Our first mission was distributing the book to children at six schools across South Andros and Mangrove Cay. At Saving the Blue, we believe protecting a species starts with working alongside the people who live alongside it, especially kids, who are endlessly curious about wildlife. We spoke with over 250 children, using the book as a jumping-off point to discuss sawfish behavior, habitat, and the threats they face. Many were surprised to learn that sawfish live in Andros waters, close to shore and in shallow water, and that they are rays, not sharks.

Students read Sawfish Bradley at one of six schools the team visited across South Andros and Mangrove Cay. Photo: Saving the Blue.

One question came up repeatedly: "Are they friendly?" It is a question that excites me more than most. Unlike sharks, which often carry a built-in stigma, sawfish are so rare that most people have no negative associations with them at all. That is an opportunity. Instead of working to undo fear, we build enthusiasm from a blank slate, which makes future conservation efforts easier to rally support around.

Coloring pages give younger students time with the animal before the conversation turns to why it matters. Photo: Saving the Blue.

The Search Begins

With our education goal underway, we turned to the second: learning what the community itself could tell us about sawfish. Finding one in Andros is a needle-in-a-haystack proposition. The species has lost roughly 90% of its historic range, and the shallow, muddy creeks that sawfish prefer run right across the island in a maze of connected waterways. So rather than search blind, we turned to the people who know these waters best. We spoke with local fishers, dock workers, and restaurant staff, and stopped at roadsides for anyone willing to talk.

That approach paid off quickly. Two locals at a bus stop told us they had recently caught a sawfish by accident while fishing for snapper. In the moment they decided to harvest it for food and took the rostrum, which they allowed us to see. Finding a rostrum this way is bittersweet. Across their range, sawfish were once hunted specifically for their rostra to sell to collectors, a major driver of their decline. These fishers were not acting with that intent, but it raised an obvious question: was this a one-off? The Bahamas has no species-specific sawfish protections, but as a party to the SPAW Protocol, which lists smalltooth sawfish under Annex II, it is committed to prohibiting their taking, possession, killing, and trade. A good reminder to keep that dialogue open, so any accidental catch gets released.

One of several rostra documented during the trip. Counting and measuring the rostral teeth reveals which species it came from, and its size helps estimate the age of the animal. Photo: Saving the Blue.

Rostra can also double as data: counting and measuring the length of the rostral teeth reveals the species it belongs to, and its size helps estimate the age of the animal it came from. Encouraged, we tracked down two more leads: a rostrum from a catch in the 1980s, and another that had since been lost in a house fire. Then time ran short, and we moved on to Mangrove Cay.

Mangrove Cay and the Final Push

Smaller than South Andros but more densely populated, Mangrove Cay felt promising. With time for just two more school visits, we kept up the same approach at bars and restaurants, turning up a rostrum on display and two fresh leads.

In our final push, one of those leads delivered the largest rostrum of the trip before 10am, big enough to leave us wondering just how large the animal itself must have been. By the time we wrapped our last school visit and followed up on remaining leads, we had logged two more rostra and watched a video, filmed just days before we arrived, of a live sawfish sighting in waters just round the corner from where we were staying.

On Reflection

Despite learning about a recent sawfish harvest, the trip was a real success. We made key community contacts and communicated just how important Andros is as a region for sawfish conservation, while educating children and locals alike on the species' role in the ecosystem, its rarity, and why protecting Andros' marine habitats matters for its survival. Just as much, the trip reinforced something for me: how critical it is to spend time with the people who live alongside these animals if we want to truly understand them.

About Saving the Blue and the Atlantis Blue Project Foundation

Saving the Blue is a nonprofit dedicated to shark and ray research and education in The Bahamas and the United States. The Atlantis Blue Project Foundation is proud to sponsor their sawfish work in Andros, from eDNA surveys that detect the animals in the water to the school visits and community conversations that make protecting them possible.

The smalltooth sawfish is critically endangered, and the remaining core populations are thought to be limited to the United States and The Bahamas. That makes Andros, and the people who live and fish along its creeks, central to whether the species recovers.

Help us protect marine life in The Bahamas.

Donate at blueprojectatlantis.org | Learn more about Saving the Blue at savingtheblue.org