1. The population of smalltooth sawfish (Pristis pectinata) in the USA was listed as endangered under the US Endangered Species Act in 2003. Based on objectives identified in the Smalltooth Sawfish Recovery Plan, an interdisciplinary team developed a variety of outreach efforts and products to educate the public and promote sawfish conservation. These include safe viewing, handling, release, and reporting guidelines for boaters, divers, and anglers that may interact with the species.
2. The usefulness of monitoring social media to track public interest and perceptions of smalltooth sawfish was investigated via Instagram posts mentioning sawfish encounters in the USA. We aimed to identify how current outreach efforts and messaging can be improved and expanded to better inform the public and promote positive change in their behaviour to further protect smalltooth sawfish.
3. All encounters occurred in Florida waters and the trend of sawfish-related Instagram posts increased congruently with traditionally reported sawfish encounters from 2012 to 2019. The number of Instagram users who indicated that they reported their encounter or that any sawfish encounter should be reported has increased, suggesting outreach efforts have gained traction and that some members of the public are actively promoting sawfish conservation through encounter reporting. The overall tone, and thereby public perception of and attitude towards sawfish, was largely positive.
4. Though social media can be used to guide outreach initiatives and provides a platform for researchers to engage large public audiences, future research efforts should include electronic surveys within the recreational, commercial, diving, and angling communities. Additionally, social media posts should be compared with traditionally reported encounters, and media professionals working with scientists should focus on increasing the utility of social media as a way to collect encounter reports and create engaging educational content to be included with continued outreach efforts throughout the south-eastern USA.

中文翻译：

---

使用 Instagram 跟踪公众对美国小齿锯鳐保护的兴趣和看法

1. 美国的小齿锯鳐（Pristis pectinata）种群在 2003 年被美国濒危物种法案列为濒危物种。公众和促进锯鳐保护。这些包括针对可能与该物种相互作用的划船者、潜水员和垂钓者的安全查看、处理、释放和报告指南。
2. 通过提及美国锯鳐遭遇的 Instagram 帖子调查了监控社交媒体以跟踪公众兴趣和对小齿锯鳐的看法的有用性。我们旨在确定如何改进和扩展当前的外展工作和信息传递，以更好地告知公众并促进他们行为的积极改变，以进一步保护小齿锯鳐。
3. 所有遭遇都发生在佛罗里达水域，与锯鳐相关的 Instagram 帖子的增长趋势与 2012 年至 2019 年传统上报告的锯鳐遭遇一致。表示他们报告了他们的遭遇或任何锯鳐遭遇应该报告的 Instagram 用户数量有所增加，建议外展工作已获得关注，并且一些公众正在通过遭遇报告积极促进锯鳐保护。总体基调以及公众对锯鳐的看法和态度在很大程度上是积极的。
4. 尽管社交媒体可用于指导外展计划并为研究人员提供一个平台以吸引大量公众受众，但未来的研究工作应包括在娱乐、商业、潜水和钓鱼社区内进行电子调查。此外，应将社交媒体帖子与传统报道的遭遇进行比较，与科学家合作的媒体专业人员应专注于增加社交媒体的效用，以此作为收集遭遇报告和创建引人入胜的教育内容的一种方式，以包含在整个南部的持续外展工作中-美国东部。