7 News Belize

Another Dead Manatee; Washes Up To CZMAI Compound
posted (July 8, 2015)

Very regularly, we feature stories in this newscast on the unfortunate death of manatees, a mammal which you, the viewers, know is an endangered species. Still, incidents continue to happen on the coastline in which these animals come in contact with boats and they get severely injured by the boat propeller.

One of them washed up on the sea front of the Coastal Zone Management Institute, the organisation which takes the lead in trying to protect the manatee population in Belize. The animal had already been dead for some hours, after suffering cut injuries from a boats propeller.

Even more obscenely ironic than that is that the CZMAI staff and the other agencies who work to protect manatees were in the midst of their second day of a workshop. It's a strategy to better track and advocate for the animals. One of the attendants saw the dead manatee and alerted Jamal Galvez about it. He told us that it is a disheartening sight:

Jamal Galvez – Manatee Program Coordinator, CZMAI

"It is the second day for the workshop. We are planning the updated manatee recovery plan. It is very important for the manatee population here in Belize to put the measures in place to better protect them, so we are more organised and more strategic with our thinking and our efforts. And while sitting in there, one of the young ladies from fisheries department saw it through the window drifting by. So it's kind of ironic the animal washed up ashore here while we were actually in the workshop discussing the threats that these animals face. Sadly, like the majority of animals we have been seeing are from boat strikes. So it came in this morning, looks like it may have gotten hit sometime yesterday evening. So it's a very fresh animal, there is not much decomposition on the animal as yet."

Daniel Ortiz

"Sir, talk to us about what you all suspect as the experts happened to it when it was out in the water."

Jamal Galvez – Manatee Program Coordinator, CZMAI

"Well Daniel, seeing manatees with boat strikes in these couple years have been seen to be the norm. It becomes so normal now to see manatees with boat strikes. Sometimes these animals do get hit by boats and they tend to heal just well - they're tough animals and resilient and sometimes lucky. Injuries such as that, other animals wouldn't survive, that's some serious chop wounds, chop wounds that penetrated the abdominal cavities, broken bones, dislodged ribs. All of these I can see without even carry out a thorough necropsy on the animal. We will carry out a necropsy this evening but it's obvious sign of death is watercraft collision. The animal almost lost it's entire tail. This is from a bigger boat, it's not from the normal small fisherman boat. This is from a bigger boat, probably; from the cut wounds they are very clean cuts, so I could tell it's from a boat travelling at very fast speeds."

Daniel Ortiz

"You have been one of the most vocal members of the institute trying to get to get persons to realise that they share the waters with these animals. Seeing this happening once again, what's your reaction? What's your thought as a conservationist that someone else did not hear or did not act on or receive the message?"

Jamal Galvez – Manatee Program Coordinator, CZMAI

"If I didn't have the support that I have from the organisation and the individuals that push and support this programme I think I would have already collapsed or have quite from the demoralising news weekly of these incidents. Every time you see a manatee with those injuries it's very disheartening, to and to many Belizeans I'm sure. I cannot continue, I cannot stop to continue to advocate. Hopefully the next time I say it somebody may hear. I am glad you guys are getting footage of it so you can see the visual impact these animals are facing. If we're going to continue to say Belize has the healthiest population in the world, we're going to have to do something to protect them or else - it's sad but I personally believe if we continue this way, we may actually lose this animal within our lifetime."

So, what about that workshop? The dead mammal from this afternoon drove the point home about how important all efforts made are. The CEO of the Coastal Zoan Management Authority discussed the premise of the workshop today:

Chantale Clarke–Samuels – CEO, CZMAI

"It's the second day of a 2 day workshop that opened yesterday with respect to updating a national manatee recovery plan. This plan was first produced in 1998 and so as you can imagine, many years have passed and we haven't had the opportunity to revisit what strategies, what policies, what search activities recommended at that time actually worked towards our larger manatee conservation goals and efforts. So the purpose of us meeting today and when I say us, I'm referring to the national manatee working group. This activity is spearheaded by the coastal zone management authority institute. We are meeting to revisit those strategies. To address issues of short comings in management and to recommend new activities, new policies that we need to priorities in order to address current and future manatee conservation issues. We hope at the end of the day to have a robust 5 year plan that will help to minimise the threats to the manatees."

Two international experts led the workshop.

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