Manatees
Young manatee keeps close tabs on its mother cont. from page 48
and waterways along the northern edge of El Golfete, which is a widening of the Rio Dulce. But they have developed several patterns of behavior to achieve near invisibility. Manatees can stay underwater for over 15 minutes. If they suspect the presence of humans they surface as little as possible, and when they do come up it is often in the middle of a raft of floating water plants or among the reeds, thus remaining effectively concealed. As part of my campaign in Guatemala I began to use every possible channel to make the public aware of the plight of the manatee—newspaper articles, radio programs and materials for the public schools. The campaign included contact with government agencies to explain the value of preserving this rare mammal, which could be economically valuable in Guatemala and effective in the control of aquatic vegetation, now a serious problem in Guatemala, like many other tropical zones. I also impressed on the government that tourists, 58 » revuemag.com
especially from North America and Europe, are keenly interested in wildlife. I had felt for some time that manatees would probably be friendly to humans if they were not constantly persecuted, that, through our greed and insensitivity, we have cut ourselves off from our natural friends.
Up close & personal
The high point of my observations is detailed in the following excerpt from my field notes of Nov. 8, 1977: “Upon awakening … I looked over the side of my boat and saw evidence of two manatees grazing on the other side of the lagoon. Then one head broke the surface and looked over in my direction. During the morning the two gradually edged closer and closer to the boat. “One was a juvenile male about six feet long, the other, an adult female, measured about 11 feet. Both seemed unusually fat. As I watched them I felt an unusually strong and persistent attraction ...continued on page 116