Dead manatee found in Belize City

If numbers alone tell the whole story, then Belize is in fairly good shape, as we boast the highest population of manatees in the region. But tonight there is one less marine mammal prowling the waters just offshore Belize City. Officials of the Coastal Zone Management Project were called out to the Crystal Shipping dock on Newtown Barracks around mid-morning, where the carcass of an adult, female manatee had washed up. According to researcher Nicole Auil, an inspection indicates that the manatee, believed to have been pregnant, was run over by a boat.

Nicole Auil, Researcher, Coastal Zone Management Project

“The death was ah, run, hit by a boat, by a barge more specifically. Unfortunately we were unable to open it but what we should have seen were bones that were crushed in. Its rib cage would have been crushed in. But from the scars that were seen on the back of the animal from its head almost to its tail, it was most likely hit by a boat because it was traveling perpendicular to the barge and it was kinda hit by the barge and rolled.”

Q: “But that doesn’t necessarily mean it was hit today?”

Nicole Auil

“Ahm, not necessarily. No, it could have been hit yesterday because I was speaking with the gentleman over there and actually this barge that’s here came in yesterday evening but it could have been hit further out between Port Authority and here if that barge is coming in between, no.”

Auil says that the considerable amount of manatees living in the area coupled with heavy boat traffic increases the risk of more accidents. It is her opinion that large barges should not be allowed to dock in the barracks area and that smaller vessels should exercise extreme caution when navigating in the area. In related news, there are reports tonight that another manatee, this time a calf, was found dead near St. George’s Caye.