Nursing Manatee Killed by Boat

A large female manatee was killed on Tuesday near Lerisi Restaurant on Marine Parade.  Even before a necropsy was performed, there were visible large cut wounds to the head and upper right shoulder of the mammal, and apparent fracturing of the skull and broken ribs. The team at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute says that the manatee was killed instantly when it was struck by a boat, whose captain most certainly felt the impact, but failed to report the incident.

Jamal Galves

Jamal Galves, Program Coordinator, Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute

“Our team went out to do the assessment and they did find a large female manatee. After the assessment we recognized that it was hit by a boat. It had severe open wounds in the head and back area, penetrating organs and even cracking the skull. That manatee definitely died upon impact.  Everybody wants to go to caye and everybody wants to be out on boat and I don’t blame them. We have a beautiful country, but also we want to make sure that they are cognizant of this concern. I know right now the country has been seeing a lot of high winds and these water taxis are using these islands to shelter along their path to and from the islands, to the cayes. But unfortunately, that is also the place that manatees are using to shelter because manatees try to stay in shallow calm waters which is likely behind these islands. And if these boats are going to be using these areas, it is likely that they are going to hit a manatee. But the concern is that the boat that hit this manatee definitely knew that they hit it considering the impact that we’ve seen from the boat scars that we observed and it is sad that nobody had reported it. We also want to remind them that manatees are protected under the Fisheries Act and failure to report these incidents has penalties. And we are asking people to give us an opportunity to respond, to provide the care if these incidents were to happen.”