And while we're excited to welcome tourists back to our shores, we'll have to take much better care of our waterways and the endangered species that live within them.
That's if we're to avoid tragedies like the one that took place on Monday when a pregnant adult manatee and her fully developed fetus was found dead near Hopkins.
It's an event that the Clear Water Marine Reserve called a significant loss citing the mammal's extensive gestation periods and low reproductive rates.
We heard more about the marine tragedy from Manatee Man Jamal Galvez:
Jamal Galvez, Manatee Man
"We have gotten reports through our partners at the fisheries department that a dead Manatee had washed up on the shore of Hopkins. It was a little bit after 5pm and night was already setting in, so we decided we will go down first thing in the morning to assess the situation. We were able to locate it and secured it to a dock as it was drifting off to sea. Initial investigation yield that it was a large adult female that appeared to be pregnant, based on its physical appearance. We also observed numerous lacerations that is similar to that of a watercraft collision in the head and shoulder area. The adult female was then transported to a secluded area where we carry out a full to determine the cause of death and our assumptions were immediately confirmed upon entering the abdominal cavity of the large female that there was a fully develop fetus inside the body of the mother and I immediately decided to administer chest compressions despite the fact that it had been a long time since it had died. It doesn't hurt to try, but that effort was also fruitless."
"The mother was dead and the male calf was also dead as well. I emphasize that it's a reproducing female, its already at age, manage to have grown and gotten to the age past, considering all the threats they face and it was able to make it past that and now its reproducing and now its contributing to the population and now it's not here anymore. Notwithstanding we are taking away the young calf who is the future of the next generation of the Manatee population. That is a significant blow. I mean off the top of my head I can remember this is the third incident of such that I have occurred in Belize that I have documented. There is concern in regards to this. I know that boaters cannot identify a pregnant female and say let's avoid, but every single Manatees is important, every single Manatee that dies have a significant loss to our country and the population throughout its range. We also encourage boaters to wear polarized sunglasses, avoid shallow waterways, these are areas that we know Manatees are hanging out to feed, adhere to Manatee no wake zones and known Manatee hotspots and be on the lookout. It's advisable to have a lookout person. It's easier for a boat to divert from Manatee and for Manatee to avoid boaters and we continue to beg them to please report these incidents. Numerous incidents go unreported and we cannot do anything unless you report it. There is not a penalty, there is not a crime to hit a Manatee accidentally. Accidents do happen and so we are encouraging people to report these incidents and to be courteous and conscious of your surroundings when you are boating in waters along the coast of Belize."
The Fisheries Department reminds boaters to take necessary precautions especially when in No Wake Zones, to use marked channels and to be very cautious when navigating in known manatee areas.
