It’s been 35 years since a manatee was spotted in Curaçao, but in September, a fisherman discovered one of the endangered animals in a bay off the north coast of the Caribbean island.
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Located off the coast of Venezuela, Curaçao is part of the Netherlands Antilles, along with the islands of Bonaire, St. Maarten, Saba, and St. Eustatius.
The manatee sighting was reported to Save the Manatee Club by Marcus DeMaaijer, President and Emergency Animal Care Coordinator for Curaçao Wildlife, a nonprofit organization that rescues and rehabilitates injured and orphaned wildlife and returns them to their natural habitat.
Volunteers with Curaçao Wildlife who verified the sighting reported that the manatee is a small animal — about five feet long — and is apparently well camouflaged when seen among the aquatic vegetation in the area.
“The animal is very slow moving and is not moving around a lot because it is feeding on seagrass and seaweed and is not visible from waterlevel,” reported DeMaaijer. “This part of the island is uninhabited and too dangerous for boating, diving, and swimming activities, so only an occasional fisherman fishing from the cliffs could spot it by accident. Even from 50 feet up the cliffs, it looks more like drifting seaweed or other debris than an animal and is hard to spot — even with binoculars.”
good cover for the manatee (center).
(Photo courtesy of Curaçao Wildlife)
The manatee sighted in Curaçao is most likely an Antillian manatee. A subspecies of the West Indian manatee, Antillean manatees are found in the coastal and inland waterways of eastern Mexico, Central America, the Greater Antilles, and along the northern and eastern coasts of South America, including coastal Venezuela.
Researchers with the Caribbean Stranding Network in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Geological Survey Sirenia Project were immediately notified of the manatee sighting. “Manatees do not routinely travel long distances away from shallow water, so crossing the deep waters from Venezuela (or wherever) may well be a one-way move for this manatee,” said Jim Reid, a biologist with the USGS Sirenia Project. “The south coast of Curaçao appears to be more appropriate as manatee habitat. Hopefully, seagrass and freshwater resources along the north coast will provide what the manatee needs and there will be more sightings despite the remote area.”
– Bron: http://www.savethemanatee.org/news_feature_curacao.htm
