Mating manatees frolic at Barracks
Earlier
this year it seemed just about every boat traveling off of the coast of
Belize City hit and killed a manatee or two. This morning the manatees
decided to do something about that, restock their population that is.
News Five was feeling a little voyeuristic today and went out to the barracks
to watch the action.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
It is not certain how many manatees did come into the shallow waters off Newtown Barracks, but several of these gentle creatures could be seen in the area. At first, no one could figure out what brought the manatees so close to shore, but we soon realized that what we were witnessing was a show you would normally see only on the Discovery Channel.
Nicole Auil, a manatee researcher with the Coastal Zone Management Authority and Institute says normally manatees come close to shore if they are stranded, but because of the large number that was observed, Auil says the manatees were there for only one reason.
Nicole Auil, Manatee Researcher, CZMAI
“But looking at the group size, a lot of animals are doing a lot of activity, a lot of cavorting and moving around and it seems to be localize around one individual, and that is probably a female and the other animals are probably males. When they mate, they would mate in a couple feet of water and we noticed before, that when they are mating, then tend to come close to the sea walls around Belize City. In Gales Point, they would come up to the really shallow waters. What’s happening is that the female is probable trying to escape the males. When she is in stress, or in heat, and there is only a small window of time when she will be receptive to other males, but between that window, she still is emitting pheromones which the males are attracted to, so she may not be ready to copulate, or mate, so she is coming to the shallow water to escape the males.”
The female manatee didn’t succeed in warding off her number of admirers until about an hour later. However, Auil says the courting should continue for the next several days so boaters are being advised to be careful.
Nicole Auil
“They can travel together, it is called a mating herd if that is indeed what it is, and they will travel together for few days, maybe up to a week or so and the female will mate with a number of males when she is ready and after the group will disperse. Not much information is really known about mating here, so I can’t tell you for how long it would be, how many males would actually mate with the female. We know that they will mate with a lot of males.”
Jacqueline Woods
“So boaters should be very careful right now?”
Nicole Auil
“Yes, that’s exactly right. Boaters should be careful around the shallow areas of Belize City as always and around the cayes. There is no particular season that we have identified. We see them all year round and we see, when we are doing aerial surveys, groups of animals all year round. But we have noticed in the first part of the year that we have actually seen mating herds and identified them on land. To say positively, they are mating herds, so yes, especially now, boaters we wary of how you are driving.
Meanwhile, do you remember Woody, the manatee who was found last October in the waters off Buttonwood Bay? Well Auil reports that the mammal is doing well in Sarteneja. Woody is now eating eight heads of lettuce and is drinking five litres of milk a day and weighs one hundred and eighteen pounds. Presently, CZMAI is asking the general public to assist them in keeping the manatee population alive and well. If you would like to help you can call CZMAI at telephone number 30719.
