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Apr 02, 2002 |
Manatees in Belize: Hunted
Manatees have been harvested for food throughout four centuries of human history. music ambience: underwater vocalizations of manatees They're called "the gentle giants of the seas" and they were once nearly hunted to extinction. I'm Jim Metzner, and this is the Pulse of the Planet. We're listening to underwater vocalizations of West Indian manatees. One of the last healthy populations of these endangered marine mammals is found in Central America off the coast of Belize. Biologist Caryn Self-Sullivan works with the Earthwatch Institute to study these plant eating, thousand pound creatures. She says that over the past centuries, the slow moving manatees have been an easy target for hunters. There are three manatee species. Millions of years ago there used to be a lot more species and we dont know exactly why there arent as many today. However, today they are endangered because throughout history we've harvested them for food. Aboriginal people used them for subsistence, which meant they caught them and ate them and fed their community with them. But then during the 1600s and 1700s we discovered that they were a very good food source, and they could be caught and killed and kept on board ships -- and we believe that their numbers were drastically reduced as a result. Although manatees haven't been hunted to extinction, it's been market forces rather than human altruism that's saved them. "They have been protected in many areas in Central America since the early 1900s. But the reason we stopped harvesting them commercially was not because of conservation, but because their numbers had dwindled so much that there wasnt an economic value anymore. You couldnt get enough of them to have a commercial market." We'll hear more about West Indian manatees in future programs. Pulse of the Planet is presented by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner. music Scientist: Caryn Self-Sullivan |
