TAMPA, Fla. — The smalltooth sawfish is an endangered species that used to be plentiful in Tampa Bay and one organization is on a mission to bring their numbers back up.

Tonya Wiley is the president of Havenworth Coastal Conservation, which she founded to help conserve sawfish, an elusive prehistoric creature in the ray family.

Wiley said it has been a great year for research as she was able to tag three juvenile sawfish in Tampa Bay this past summer.

“The juvenilles are close to shore in shallow water,” Wiley said. “Usually we find them in knee deep water or less. That way they’re able to avoid the predators.”

All together, Wiley has tagged five sawfish since 2021 and says every opportunity to study them could help the population along.

“I’m really devoted to sawfish, their ultimate recovery and doing everything I can to learn about them so we know what to do to recover them,” Wiley said. “I’m cautiously optimistic that maybe during my lifetime we’ll be able to recover them and remove them from the endangered species list.”

Havenworth Coastal Conservation operates under the authority and guidelines of a federal endangered species permit, which is required to handle sawfish.

But Wiley said the public can still help with conservation efforts by reporting sawfish sightings.

You can do so by calling 1-844-4SAWFISH or visiting the sawfish recovery site.