The four problems they all share
Fishing nets
Saws, shells, hammer shaped heads, even little porpoises: all of them tangle in fishing nets really easily. Most of the time the boats were after something else entirely. They just got stuck. Scientists call this bycatch.
Hunted for parts
People pay a lot of money for fins, saws and patterned shells. Selling these parts between countries is against the law now, yet it still happens in secret.
Losing their homes
They grow up in shallow water near the coast: mangrove forests, coral reefs and quiet beaches. People keep building over exactly these places.
Slow to grow up
They take many years to become adults and raise only a few babies. When many are lost, it takes a very, very long time for their numbers to recover.
Meet the four
Sawfish · all 5 species endangered
Yes, it is a ray, a flat cousin of sharks! Its saw, a long nose edged with teeth, is brilliant for hunting fish, yet it tangles in nets almost instantly, even old lost ones drifting in the sea. Baby sawfish grow up hiding among mangrove roots, and a sawfish reaches full size at about 8 to 10 years old. They have vanished from over half the places they used to live; their last big strongholds are northern Australia and Florida.
Hawksbill sea turtle · critically endangered
Named for its beak, shaped like a hawk's. Turtles must swim up for air, and a turtle tangled in a net underwater is held away from the surface it needs to breathe. For hundreds of years its beautiful patterned shell was made into jewellery and combs (that is what "tortoiseshell" actually was). A hawksbill starts having babies only at 20 to 30 years old, older than a lot of teachers have been teaching!
Scalloped hammerhead shark · critically endangered
Its wide head is packed with super senses for finding prey, and around fishing nets it gets stuck just like a sawfish's saw. Its fins are among the most expensive in the shark fin trade, and hammerheads swim in huge schools, so one boat in the wrong place can catch a whole group at once.
Vaquita · only about 10 left
The world's smallest porpoise, and its rarest sea mammal. The vaquita is caught purely by accident: the gillnets that drown them are set illegally for a fish called the totoaba, whose swim bladder sells for huge money. It lives in just one place on the whole planet, the very top of Mexico's Gulf of California, and a mother has one baby every one or two years, so every single one matters.
Same problems, different bodies
| Problem | Sawfish | Hawksbill | Hammerhead | Vaquita |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nets | Saw gets tangled | Held under, away from air | Head gets stuck | Drowns in illegal gillnets |
| Hunted for | Saws and fins | Its shell (tortoiseshell) | Fins | Caught purely by mistake |
| Home in danger | Mangrove forests | Reefs and beaches | Shallow bays | Just one home on Earth |
| Grown up at | About 8 to 10 years | 20 to 30 years | Many years | 1 baby every 1 to 2 years |
The good news
We know exactly what the problems are, and protecting these animals works. Where nets are banned and nursery homes are kept safe, in places like northern Australia, Florida and guarded turtle beaches, the animals hang on. The vaquita is the starkest warning: with only about 10 left, its future depends on getting every last illegal net out of its small corner of the sea. Saving them is a choice we already know how to make.
What you can do
- Look for the sustainable seafood label when your family shops
- Keep balloons and plastic bags out of the sea, because turtles mistake them for jellyfish
- Choose souvenirs that leave shells, fins and saws on the animals
- Tell someone the vaquita's story, and help the world get to know it
Learn more & help
- Australian Marine Conservation Society
- Sea Turtle Foundation
- IUCN Red List, the world's official list of endangered animals
- And of course: play The Long Swim and meet three of them
Danger levels come from the IUCN Red List. This page is based on Mia's school research project, Caught in the Same Net.