From Naples News in the USA:
VIDEOS: Kayakers get a rare sawfish sighting in Everglades National Park
* By ERIC STAATS
* Posted October 13, 2009 at 3:55 p.m.
As they waded in the shallows, the two spotted a trio of eagle rays — McCumber says one large female and two smaller males — gliding through the water. The largest was as wide as McCumber’s outstretched arms, maybe 6 or 7 feet, he said.
McCumber grabbed his video camera and started recording. And then it happened: “A sawfish!” McCumber is heard to yell on the video, almost 15 minutes of which McCumber posted to YouTube.
The sawfish, an endangered species, cruised back and forth along the shoreline, as the more frequently seen eagle rays chased each other at McCumber’s and Anderson’s feet.
“It’s still an exciting thing to see something that large flying through the water,” McCumber later recounted about seeing the eagle rays. “But the sawfish, aw geez, I was thrilled. What an amazing thing to see.”
McCumber, who has kayaked in Southwest Florida waters for the past 20 years, had almost given up on ever seeing a sawfish, he said.
Only the threat of an afternoon rainstorm and miles yet to paddle to get to Everglades City could pull McCumber away from the scene.
“I reluctantly shut off the camera and off we went,” he said.
Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary is one of the most significant natural areas in Florida, containing the largest virgin cypress swamp remaining in North America. The Corkscrew Regional Ecosystem Watershed Project was designed to further protect the Sanctuary by purchasing surrounding habitats, including a direct link to conservation areas to the south. Corkscrew Swamp receives 100,000 recreationists annually and contains an environmental education center for about 6000 schoolchildren each year: here.