The West Indian Manatee (Trichechus manatus) is a marine mammal that lives in the coastal waters and around the offshore reefs of Belize. Manatees have large gray bodies covered with algae or barnacles. They are herbivores that consume marine vegetation such as sea grass and surface regularly to breathe. They reside in sea grass beds and in mangroves that provide them with shelter. The West Indian Manatee is listed as vulnerable under the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and may eventually be listed as endangered. They are at a huge risk of decline due to coastal development and other changes to the environment (Auil). Manatees are facing countless risks and deaths as the human population increases in varying locations. According to the National Geographic, in the year of 2013, there have been a total of 829 known manatee deaths which has been the highest toll since biologists started to keep records of this species. Manatees have no natural enemy, so their deaths are caused by human interaction. These are entanglements in nets, destruction of habitat, collisions with watercraft, and hunting.
Fishing gear that is the most harmful is illegally placed in areas such as near the rivers, shores, and cays, commonly in the southern region in Belize. This region is where most of the small fishery villages reside. Entanglements in fishing nets are a source of many deaths to free-swimming manatees. These nets are sometimes engulfed by manatees which cause their digestive systems to fail. The nets also get caught onto their appendages, which sometimes tear causing a severe infection. There have been several cases reporting amputation of manatee appendages due to this reason. Calves usually drown when they are entangled, especially if t...
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...to help educate the public about this issue. Education and awareness is a huge key when it comes to help saving this species. Since Belize has tourist sites, education the tourists about manatee conservation is important. That way, tour companies would make this topic very important and educate the tourist. Setting up tourist sites for viewing manatees in a safe manner can also be helpful. Educating the country in general can have serious improvements.
In the year of 1981, manatees were listed as an endangered species under the Wildlife Protection Act that was assisted by the Belize Audubon Society. Because of this, Belize has been protecting the manatee for many years. There are also many projects that the people of Belize are forming and have formed to help the conservation of this marine mammal through research, training, and education throughout the country.
And subsequently, new policies and laws are created to give people equal access to wildlife. The question regard conservation is very much alive today. And United State needs conservation of wildlife. And the Federal department responsible for conservation, department of the interior are under attack with President Trump new budget plan. So it’s important to keep pushing for better laws and policies to protect
Being around for 45 million years is not enough for the Florida Manatee to continue to survive. The Florida Manatee is in danger of extinction. Surveying obstacles have prevented getting an exact population count; until the end of 2009 the best estimate was somewhere between 1,000 and 3,500 manatees left in the wild. This number was considered fairly accurate until January 2010 when a 2-week cold snap in Florida pushed the preliminary Florida Wildlife Service ae...
The manatee has been on the endangered species list since the year. 2001. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' This is caused by pollution in the water, power boats, and slow reproductivity. The symbiosis of the symbiosis. As a result, humans are putting an effort into saving these seas.
Park Marine Mammals Suffer Seemingly Preventable Illness, Death." Sun Sentinel (Ft. Lauderdale, FL). 24 May. 2004: n.p. - n.p.
Manatees are loved by many Floridians. Manatees are known as one of the state’s natural wonders. They were once marked as one of the endangered mammals in Florida. The federal government considers a species endangered when it is at risk of extinction. Therefore, the federal government is downlisting manatees from “endangered” to “threatened.”
Commercial fishing of other marine animals is one of the main reasons for drastic decline in all sea turtles. Turtles rely on air to breathe despite being marine animals, therefore when captured in nets while scavenging for food they most likely drown. In the US alone 250,000 turtles are accidently captured, injured or killed every year. (WWF, conserveturtles) However, there is also commercial fishing within sea turtles. Turtle’s shells, skin, meat and, eggs are valuable and decorative items that many humans want to
The Florida Manatee’s popular marine species in the tropical environment of Florida are currently considered an “endangered species”. The ecology (the relationships between living organisms and their interactions with their natural or developed environment), for the manatee (trichechus manatus), requires and is generally restricted to the inland and coastal waters of peninsular Florida during the winter, when they shelter in and/or near warm-water springs, heated industrial effluents, and other warm water sites (as stated in Research Gate (1997) Hartman 1979, Lefebvre et al). The Florida (West Indian) Manatee, An Endangered Species, has no known predators other than humans; in the past, humans hunted
From my research on the species of The Marine Iguana, I have investigated the impact man-made, environmental and animal threats have on the Marine Iguana and how it could further impact their futures. My predictions for the future of the Marine Iguana are that eventually they will become a majorly endangered species. From different threats such as man-made Oil Spills, El Nino, Marine pollution and other species of animals, I believe that the health of the marine iguana will be at major risk.
Shark nets have been implemented in locations across the world in response to shark sightings and attacks. Nets are submerged beneath the surface of the water, roughly 200 metres from the shoreline. The meshing is designed to be large to capture sharks, leaving them to struggle before eventually drowning under the weight of their own body. The meshing allows small fish to pass through, however captures larger fish and marine species. Shark nets provide no discrimination between common, vulnerable and endangered species, resulting in a high mortality rate for a variety of marine wildlife.
As a child, my favorite types of books to read or have read to me was books about animals. I was always fascinated by animals and learning about the mannerisms of animals and how they compared and differed from us humans. I wholeheartedly believe that animals are essential to not only the well-being of the environment, but also critical to the prosperity and happiness to humans ourselves. This being said it is crucial that the education and study of animal behaviors and tendencies is began at a young age in children, and will only help young children with self-discovery and help by opening up questions about their own existence by learning about living creatures that are separate from their own kind that we co-hebetate this earth with. The book Slow Down for Manatees is dedicated to the knowledge and preservation of manatees, an aquatic animal.
...and food. Their skin is used to make high quality leather. In 1950, American alligators were seriously endangered because humans were over hunting alligators. Then in 1967, the endangered species preservation act stopped the hunting of alligators and the number of alligators quickly rose. Now there are millions of alligators and people are allowed to hunt alligators again. Alligators are losing their habitat because wetlands are being filled to create land for houses, farms, and industries.
Many of the methods used in commercial fishing are very destructive to the aquatic systems. Industrial ocean trawlers scrape the bottom of the water, often dragging up the seafloor with them. This destroys the habitat and kills many of the bottom dwelling organisms that are vulnerable to these practices. There is also a large amount of marine animals that are unintentionally caught by the large nets. These animals are considered bycatch, having no value to fishermen and are usually killed. These large fishing vessels also add a significant amount of pollution to the water. Fishing vessels cause oil spills as well as discharging chemical elements and wastes into the water. The thousands of of trawlers that pass through Japanese waters create large quantities of water pollution that can devastate aquatic life by changing the chemical composition of the water and affecting all the organisms that inhabit these
...tribution to the development of the Carribean coast, which has created jobs and other positive economic factors, while also threatening ecosystems and cultures that have become commodified. Tourists should be encouraged to learn about the environment and culture before, during, and after their vacation to areas, and they should make efforts to make meaningful connections to people and places so that they have reasons for treating the place well and coming back to check on things (insuring the vacation spot isn’t single-use or disposable). These kinds of efforts will insure better treatment of places and peoples by increasing the connected worth in travelers’ minds. Through practical legislation and enforcement along with caring and connected approaches to travel, tourism can become a positive element in the continued development of marketable tourist attractions.
The coral reefs of the world need our help now. You do not have to be a marine biologist to have an effect on the reefs around the world. By simply conserving water, you can help limit the water runoff into the oceans. Limit the amount of emissions put off by vehicles by carpooling or taking a bus. Even though we may live thousands of miles away from a coral reef, we must use caution when adding chemicals to our lawns. Planting a tree not only reduces the amount of water runoff; it also lowers the earth’s temperature. Something as simple as spreading the word can have major
Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. Robert Redford said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?” People should all take the environment more seriously and protect the future for those to come. It’s our responsibility to ensure that the children to come may enjoy all of earth’s beauty, and not through old issues of National Geographic’s.