Saving Manatees: What It Takes - Meet the Expert | National Geographic

So good to see you all again! I'm so excited for this time every week. Um, we get the opportunity to chat to a wonderful scientist, or expert, or conservationist live somewhere in the world, and we get to chat about some of their awesome research projects and conservation programs going on. And today is no different.

Introducing myself, I'm Lizzie Daley, I'm a biologist and your host for today. So thrilled to be bringing you yet again another wonderful guest all the way from Belize. But before I do, I should tell you that if you're new around here, this is an incredible episode because we're hoping to be bringing you live manatees along with our guest, who's out on the boat today, currently in the beautiful red mangroves, and who's going to tell us all about his fantastic work.

So, lots to look forward to, and of course manatees! I mean, who doesn't love manatees? If you're like me, these mysterious, beautiful, herbivorous sea creatures that seem to float around mangroves and channels are just fascinating. The Antillean manatee is a subspecies of manatee that you may know, floating around the waters in Florida. So we're going to be learning more about their biology, the ecology, and what our guest is doing to help protect the Antillean manatee.

And let me tell you, we have a fantastic guest. Um, we are going to be chatting today to Jamal Galvez. He has dedicated his life to manatee conservation. He's been working with manatees since he was 11. He spends most of his days going to find a manatee, attracting a manatee, or helping protect the waterways that they inhabit. He has many, many different titles, but he's a conservation biologist, he's a program coordinator for the Belize Manatee Conservation Program, as well as a Nat Geo Fellow. Um, as well, he’s done so much, this gentleman, and he's actually coming to us live right now on a boat in the middle of Belize.

Said Jamal, hello! Give us a big wave and tell us more about where you are. It looks beautiful!

"Hello, hello, hello! Um, thanks for having me. Yes, I am in Belize, in beautiful Belize! I'm literally on the Belize River right now—uh, one of the most cheering places this year, because when I do need fresh water in order to survive, they love the fresh cool water off the Belize River. So I am on a boat, wow, at the moment. This is an area that is known to have a large population of manatees, so we're hoping that one or twenty may stop by so we can actually get to see them today. And it's a beautiful place where you are, and of course this is a place where you've grown up. I want to talk more about the habitat and the environment and why it's important for these manatees here, but I guess I'd like to start by talking about you and what inspired you to get involved with conserving these manatees in the first place."

For me, I like to refer to it as my unusual walk to conservation. As a kid, I grew up in a small village just outside of Belize City called Gills Point Manatee—ironically famous name for the man in this presence there. So as a kid, I always knew about manatees. I'd always see manatees, but to me they were just one—and this is like a bird or a cat or a dog—they were just there.

At that point, the injured manatees, I didn't know that they were in trouble. But as a kid, I would see this weird-looking boat go by my grandma's land, and it said "manatee research." And I became curious, and we started asking questions. My cousins and I would start playing manatee rescue on the lawn, and we'd fight to see who got to drive the boat or who got to be the doctor.

But my interest had outgrown my grandma's lawn, so I strolled down to the dock where they leave, and I approached the boat pilot, and I said to him, "Dr. Paul, can I come up with you guys?" And he said, "Ah, kitty, you're too small." I'm not sure if it was my about-to-cry look that made him see it. It's making me cry!

And I went up today, and I didn't even ask my grandma’s permission, which had some consequences when I got back home. I learned so much about these animals. For me, like I mentioned, they were just one another. Learning that they're endangered—"endangered" means that they're in trouble—and I felt as the kid of this village, who best to stand up for them than me? I wanted to protect and safeguard something that my village represents, my country represents, and I took the honor of trying to be a voice for the voiceless, trying to speak for these animals who cannot speak for themselves.

And it wasn't planned. I always imagined becoming an attorney or a judge. But nature and destiny had something else in store for me, and I'm very happy, I'm privileged and honored to be a voice for these species, and I'm very happy to be here to share with you guys today. Best job in the world, I think!

And just to kind of give a bit of context, because it looks fabulous around you, how many manatees do you get passing you by? Before we actually went live, there were manatees that went past—typical, isn't it? Um, but there's about what, 2,500 manatees left in the wild in these areas. So tell us, what do you expect when you're going through these waterways, and how many do you actually get to see?

This is one of the places in the country where you can almost guarantee you're going to see manatees. Why? Because, like I mentioned, these are mammals. Though they can go between salt and brackish water and fresh water, they do need fresh water to survive. So, despite the distance, they may come back to the mainland to get fresh water—maybe on a weekly basis. So, it's a common place for them to come because it provides a very critical resource for the species, and hence it's very important that we safeguard these ecosystems so that these animals can continue to survive.

Um, this, like I mentioned, at the Belize River, um, that not only has manatees, it has different species of fish. Um, we saw some garfish coming in, we saw some tarpons, many birds, beautiful red mangrove that you can see hugging the shorelines. But it's a beautiful place! Um, if I was the one hanging out in here as well—fabulous! I want to be there so badly!

I know for anyone that follows your amazing work and all the things that you post online, they'll most likely see, um, images of you with very young manatees—these orphans. Tell us more about how that comes about and what your work entails there.

Well, having orphaned manatees is not our interest. Our goal is to keep manatees in the world where they belong, for them to live a wild life and to grow up as a manatee. Our goal is to try and put measures in place to ensure these animals do not need to be protected, to ensure people understand their importance, and people become aware that the species want to protect and safeguard these species. But unfortunately, these incidents do occur, and suddenly often as a result of human interaction or human causes. Most of them are anthropogenic causes. Many manatees that we see that are orphaned is normally a result of their mother being killed—usually by boats. There's some other activity that may have influenced the animal to have become separated, but a calf manatee won't survive without its mother. These animals, these babies spend about two to three years with their mom, and they become separated from their mom at two to three weeks. It's a loss—it's a last kiss! And if we're not able to successfully rescue these animals, they'll eventually die.

Um, so it's very critical that we respond to these incidents, and we're very dependent on the public to call these incidents. And to call, most of the time, we'll get a call, and someone will say, "Oh, there's a baby manatee at my dock in my canal or in front of my yard." Really? Yeah, literally! Because manatees, at a young age, tend to want to be next to something. So they tend to go next to the shoreline or something so that they can feel safe and not just out in the open.

And so we're dependent on the public to call these information so we can respond to these incidents. But too many things we've seen, um, have become stranded. Um, when these incidents do happen, we will get out, our team will get out and respond to it. Like you’re seeing in the video right now, um, this is a young calf that was called in that was swimming in circles. Um, when a manatee is swimming in circles, it's usually because of their distress. Um, because, so I’m right in my hands, and I picked it up and I walked it onto the shoreline. Um, but while picking it up, I have to ensure it's very young, very fragile—you don't want to squeeze it, you don't want to squish it too tight, but you want to hold it firm so it doesn't hurt itself or— you don't want it to fall.

So I'm just taking it—we’re taking it to our truck where we put it on the truck to measure it, to get a weight so that we can send this information to the rehabilitation center so they know what to prepare—a big pool, a small pool. An animal is very dehydrated and very hungry because they have been separated from its mother for probably about two to three days—it is more than two or three weeks old. Um, so I'm administering some Pedialyte to try and rehydrate the animal, as it's very dehydrated. And the goal is to try and transport it to the rehabilitation center as quick as possible, so that it can get the care that it critically needs. And the long-term goal is to eventually return this animal to the world where it belongs.

And for anyone watching this incredible footage, do get your questions in to Jamal live, and we'll try and get through some of those throughout this live, because I'm sure many people have a lot of questions. I want to talk about the biology of manatees, because that is also quite fascinating and how they do change from kind of fresh water. But have you found that these rescues and how you help these manatees—has that changed over the years? Has that increased at all?

Suddenly, suddenly, we're seeing an increase in manatees that are being injured. It could be also as a result of our large, vast public awareness—people know who to call, people who are responding to incidents. Social media has a large part to play in these incidents as well. But the point is that we're seeing more manatees, which isn't a good thing. One of the other incidents that we're seeing that are becoming concerning is that we are seeing dolphins cause them distress. We've gotten reports of dolphins rushing and leaving manatees—dolphins separating mothers and calves—you've seen calves come in with dolphin scratches as if they’re playing with them. We've documented dolphin interactions, so that's another problem that animals are facing.

And, um, over the years, we've been, like I mentioned, we've been getting too many calves coming. I think there's currently nine in the rehabilitation center—that's a record number! We've never had more than one or two for the year, but it's nine! That's a lot of manatees to feed! A lot of money is required for this. Um, it requires a lot of attention, as a young manatee requires—it's like a young baby! Someone has to give it about two o'clock in the morning, four o'clock in the morning, six—every two hours. It's a full-time job at the rehabilitation center that does it.

Um, so our goal is to keep an eye on this in a while, that they can drink free milk from their mother and eat free seagrass, because it's expensive to rehab manatees, and we don't want them in the rehab—we want them in the wild, being wild!

Absolutely! Look, we've got questions firing in already! I'm going to thread them out throughout this live because I'm also hoping that later on we may get a glimpse of a manatee passing by. Um, but the first question—yeah, okay, let's have my—I have my team looking—I'm getting my team looking out, hoping that we see something! I'll be sure to let you guys know!

Please do! Absolutely! Um, we just had a question coming: How many people are working with Jamal there?

So actually, who's with you on the boat? If you can!

Currently, my team today is—um, who's one of the program assistants—I'm going for a guy. He's also our assistant as well. Um, so it's just three of us here. The team consists of three of us here in Belize, but we’re all part of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium, which is famously known for the dolphin Winter story. But we also do work in other parts of the world, including Belize, in Cuba, and other parts of the world.

In Belize, our team is a member of three, a group of three of us, and we're working diligently. We're very dependent on the assistance of volunteers who assist us. We can't do the work that we do without the volunteers that we have, so I'm very grateful for the support and volunteers that we have, which comes in very many different forms—from come up from a three-year-old to a seventy-year-old man!

Yeah, yeah, all different forms—big efforts. And I'm sure, as your career has gone on, people get to know you and your work, which is so, so important, to have that kind of stable, safe place for these manatees. It's absolutely fabulous!

Um, Jamal, you must have so many stories! Can you tell us, like, a unique story or an encounter with a particular manatee that's really stuck with you?

Ah, one of the most interesting incidents, one of the most interesting interactions I've ever had with a manatee was one of the first ones that I've ever been in direct contact with was a rehab manatee by the name of Woody. That was in his last phase of rehabilitation, and I was fortunate enough to have been able to get into the pool with the manatee, which is very rare. We don't encourage people getting into the pool with manatees that are being rehabilitated; you don't want to influence them, you don't want to alter their behavior for them to become too used to human beings, but I got in the pool on this one.

They would literally swarm up to me and kind of like put his flippers around me, almost as if he was giving me a hug. But it was surprising, thinking these animals are here because of human causes, human threats. But yet, they still find it within themselves to trust us human beings and to show me love. The worst thing that I can do is just to hug it back and show it that love, because these animals are a lot of individual personalities in many different ways.

So, that's something that has stayed at me—something that I've remembered. I have tons of stories, but one of the ones that I've felt moved me most was that interaction with Woody. Um, what is a special moment to me, and it’ll always be others—manatees are not just a number; they're individuals with unique personalities. Um, they like to do this—Twiggy likes that. They’re all unique and all special in their own way and have unique behaviors.

So some people may look at them as F23, as a number, but I look to them as an individual with a unique personality.

Fantastic! And to get to know them on such a deep level is just so brilliant! Um, I'm fascinated by manatees—they are, as a species, you know, super interesting, aren’t they?

And in an order, in a group—so firstly, are they mostly solitary, or do they, when they come to breed, form these aggregations? Tell us a little bit more about the biology of manatees.

Correct! Manatees are considered social loners, meaning that they don't really bond. They don't have BFFs; they don’t have girlfriends. My buddy, my OG—whatever terms these guys are using, this, I don't know. The only bond that is normally between a mother and a calf, and it's the most critical bond, as a calf would not survive without its mother.

So we are always encouraging people to avoid approaching mothers and calves whenever you're out on a boat. You don't want to call them to separate. Um, but all the other times you'll see manatees congregate is normally at a warm-water site during the winter. During the winter, in places like Florida, in Belize, when these are more fortunate, as we have warm waters all year round, so it's spring break for them in Belize all the time—it’s cold! But the only other place that you'll see them congregate is common places, such as the river where they come to get fresh water or a common seagrass bed, where they’re feeding.

And when they’re mating—which is the only time that I can tell you manatees are aggressive—it's like fighting. It's like fighting for a parking lot in New York City! Someone moves, the other one takes his place. And that's because, I mean, it’s pretty well-known that you have twenty meals, she’s not the one female, and she doesn't get to decide which males she meets with.

It's really, really crazy but very interesting as well!

Yeah, I've had the joy of being face-to-face with manatees in the water. Um, and it was just, it was really interesting to see how they behave, how they move, how they sleep. Do manatees sleep?

Yeah, I know, right? You won't know how to sleep if they need to come to the surface to breathe. This is very unique as well and very interesting! If you sleep like I do—you won't get enough rest, because you have to come up every few minutes to breathe. It’s very interesting!

Um, some of them under the water will rest at the surface. I guess those are the layers that raise their guys, because they don't want to go all the way to the bottom if they have to come back up to the surface to breathe. But if they rest at the surface, they only need to stick their head up to breathe. But someone else, surface-resting, will rest on the bottom. It varies depending on the individual as well.

Okay, fabulous! And another question—do they have any predators where you are?

Predators? Volunteers don’t have any natural predators in Belize. The only predator manatees do have—sally’s human beings. Um, the main design of their office for manatees is humans. They don't have any real threats in the wild. Crocodiles won’t harm a manatee. We've had incidents where they’ve been bitten by a shark, but nothing to be concerned about. But mainly it's just human activities that cause animals to...

Um, yeah, so I do, at the end, a little bit later on, I want to talk a little bit more about, you know, responsible behavior around manatees and the impact of us on them, because obviously it's such a big one.

But out of interest, you know when I—when you look for whales, you look for blows at the surface. When you look for crocodiles, you may look for, you know, eyes or reflections—what do you look for in a manatee? Do you look for a floating rock or something?

You know, some people like to say it's like a bowling ball in the water because it has these two nostrils, and it kind of like, if you put a bowling ball in the water, and if it floats at all, you'll see just a round surface with two little holes. Um, you also look for swirls when, from a distance—like, the role they use their flipper a lot to move, so they make rolls in the water.

But it varies— in the morning, they tend to be very active. You'll see them doing barrel rolls; sometimes they'll do a tail kick somewhere at the wheel. But they're interesting as well in regard to their behavior. But normally, you look for something that looks similar to a bowling ball sitting in the water.

Perfect, then! Easy, easy to spot! We just had another question come in—a really nice one, actually. Um, how do manatees benefit the environment around them, and are there any special things they do for their ecosystems?

You talked about them eating seagrass—so how does it work?

Currently, manatees are herbivores; they primarily feed on seagrass. They can feed on submerged and emergent vegetation. Sometimes you'll see them sticking their head up to grab a piece of mangrove as well. But, um, these animals indeed eat about nine to ten percent of their body weight daily, so they spend a lot of time feeding. And the other times they spend sleeping! Someone on this eat, sleep, eat, sleep, repeat!

But, um, that makes them very critical to our ecosystem as they are herbivores within our waterways. Um, and Belize, so they maintain the ecosystem in the sense that, because they eat so much, they excrete a lot. Their excretion acts as food for crustaceans and small fishes and other species within the ecosystem. So they manage to keep a balance in the ecosystem, and people do eat fishes that also manages an important role in ensuring that the marine ecosystem is stable and in good condition!

So habitat's a really important thing to consider as well in the conservation of them!

Absolutely fascinating!

Um, quick check—have we had any manatees yet?

Nothing around so far! We've got all our eyes out in the water. No one understands—we have all eyes on the water currently. They’re keeping us waiting for something, hoping that something stops by, but I’ll see you guys—if one of them stops by, you're going to be the first to know!

Absolutely fabulous! Um, now let’s talk a little bit more about your research, because it’s not all kind of being out in the field either, is it? There’s some work that you do with the tracking and movements of manatees. So how does that work?

Correct—um, since 1997 we’ve been doing research and management in Belize. Um, Belize has had the longest longitudinal study of these species in the world! So since 1997, we’ve been following these animals to better understand—to understand their movements, understand their behavior, understand their ecosystem needs, understand how people are impacting them. And based on this data that we're collecting, we can inform conservation actions, whether it's implementing no-wake zones or boat speed zones or designating wildlife centers.

And it varies in many kinds of ways. Um, so the way it works is that we actually catch manatees to do a complete health check on them—similar to when you go to the doctor. Um, the manatee is equipped with a tag, as you see, and as you can see in the screen, that—that’s the movement of one of the manatees that we've had—that must move around a lot. So this GPS allows us to follow the animal to see where it goes, understand how it's interacting with the environment and how it's interacting with others, other species as well.

Okay, based on this information, we can designate wildlife sanctuaries, protected areas, and all of those necessary things to ensure that they're protected.

And how far do they actually move? I mean, is it over big distances or is it largely led by resources like food and breeding?

It's very interesting! As the females tend to be more resident species, they tend to stay in the system that we find them, while males, on the other hand, tend to be more nomadic—they tend to travel a lot—normally looking for females in estrus.

So the males travel long distances to look for females while the females used to be more resident. Absolutely fascinating!

And how do you go about attaching a technology like that, a tag to a manatee? I can’t really imagine where you place it.

We have a specific boat designed for it, and we have a well-trained team that has been doing it for many, many, many, many years. Um, always animal health, animal safety is priority. We're only taking this information as it's critical for us to put measures in place to protect them.

Um, once it’s onboard, we have a—we have a tag which we attach to the animal. Still, this is a satellite tag, okay? And basically it’s normally attached with a tether, and it goes around the tail of the animal, similar to a watch on your hand. This can float; it does go under with the manatee. It doesn't prevent the animal's movement; it doesn't prevent it from feeding. It’s been tested and retested—you’ve seen animals feeding with it, you see animals do their normal behaviors with the tag.

And this tag each has an individual frequency—similar to the radio—if you want to listen to pop, you go to 96.5; you want to listen to the source, you go to 105.9.

So this [laughter] I can track it on the computer via satellite, but I can also check in the field using these—using these equipment here we have. Um, this guy over there with, uh, this which is an antenna and a receiver, so if you turn the receiver on, you will hear—the tag will start to transmit.

Does that even get complicated in thick mangroves? Because obviously, they kind of go through very, very thick substrate sometimes.

Correct! The tag is designed to—it’s designed with a weak link, so that if the animal does get caught or hung on something, it will break it and break free, so it doesn't keep the animal attached. It doesn’t harm the animal in a way. It's designed that way to ensure that the animal is safe. It’s also attached with corrodible screws, so that in six months, the screws corrode in a salt environment and it comes off the animal. So it doesn't stay on an animal for more than six months as well, so there are many safeguards in place to ensure that the manatee is safe during these times.

And obviously, you're learning really fascinating things about their movements and across different sexes as well, which is just fantastic! More questions coming in!

Um, we've got a fantastic one—oh, which one to pick? Um, we talked about what manatees eat. Should the green algae be cleaned off the manatees? So tell us what it is first and why it's there.

Ah, I’ll just anticipate, because they're slow. They're slow-moving, and wherever things are when a whale sees a log in the water, algae is going to grow there because it’s not moving. And when these—manatees don’t move a lot, and so as you tend to grow on them, but it also depends on the environment that they're in.

If they're in a brackish environment or they're in a saltwater environment, you may not see algae, but you may see oysters on them because they're slow-moving. Um, it's not advised to remove it from them, especially in the wild. I don't think you want to, and it’s probably definitely illegal for you to do so in the wild. But in rehab, sometimes they may clean them to administer medication or to administer an injection or something of that sort, but it's not encouraged to remove it. It's natural; it doesn't harm them in any kind of way.

Um, also, it provides food for remoras, so it's okay! It’s a symbiotic relationship with remoras. Manatees have algae, and remoras eat algae, and so they are taking the idea from the valiant manatees and manatees are getting so—they already have their cleaners, so they don’t need humans to clean them! They have their own key, and it’s a slow-moving buffet for the remoras!

Brilliant!

Um, another great question. Um, okay, so someone who's 17 is watching. Hello, everyone who is watching!

And how are we able to help the conservation of manatees when I live so far from them? I'm just 17.

All right, helping manatees—there's no age restriction, age limit, there's no criteria, no educational criteria. You just have to want to help! The most important thing is the desire to want to help. I don’t have to be here to help. Sometimes people mistake helping with always writing a check or donating, but you can assist by simply sharing a post on social media, perhaps it gets to someone that can assist in some sort of a way.

It's basically telling the story! Today, I shared with you information about manatees and Belize that they’re endangered. Now you're telling the story to someone! It’s the most critical way you can help. Before you know it, that story has gone around the world.

So tell us where the manatee is from! A 17-year-old can help! I started when I was 11! There's never too old, never too young. Tomorrow is always a new day, and always an opportunity to start over or to start new, or to begin something new. And it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s so much species in the world that need to be saved. Find something where you live that needs help—that not a lot of people are helping! There’s so much that needs to be saved—and not many people that are helping them.

So I encourage you to find something within your ear that you can assist with.

Totally agree! Being a voice is so powerful, and that’s very much what you're doing as well—being a voice.

Okay, so these are Antillean manatees, right? So tell us a little bit about—they are subspecies of the manatees in Florida, is that correct?

There are subspecies! This is the Florida manatee, um, similar! I like—you can’t really tell by just looking at them.

Okay, so we're looking at the little—there it is!

So tell us about what you're seeing, Jamal!

"So I can see—they just came barely to the surface! It’s not fully out of the water, but I couldn’t see at the surface! It’s under the water currently in the river! Sometimes it's very strong current, and these are lasers, so the current will be pushing them back and forth. They tend to want to come into these places, such as these coves where the current isn't as strong!

Okay, so they can hang out here and relax—and be peaceful and not have to be fighting the current the entire time. But in here, the river is—some areas are more than 230 feet, but in this little cove, there is very shallow, about four or five feet, so they can rest easily and can feed among groves that are overhanging. It’s generally quite in this little area, and would continue to come into the small area here."

Yeah, and you had a thunderstorm—a big, big weather yesterday. Does that alter their behaviors? Do they tend to head into these coves more?

Correct! If it's very windy and very strong, they tend to come into this mangrove area. That's why, we've always encouraged people to protect mangroves. They're not just important for human protection from hurricanes and storms, but they also provide protection for wildlife, including manatees. Particularly with calves—calves are not able to withstand high wave action, so mothers will tend to bring their babies in here to shelter and bunker down to be able to survive a heavy storm or some sort of natural disaster, such as hurricanes, though.

Okay, are we on the move? It looks like we're on the move!

Yeah, we’re just drifting! We’re just basically drifting! I’m waiting for it to come back to the surface! Once it comes—hopefully it comes up to the surface more close, so that I can give you guys a breath! Um, it was an adult, I'm guessing. Can you tell the difference between a female and a male?

It didn’t look—you can’t tell the difference between a female and a male! So oftentimes people will say, "Oh, the manatee is so cute!" I don’t encourage you to say that, because it might be a male and may not want to be called cute! But, um, the only way you can tell a manatee is if you can see the bottom of the manatee. The male genital opening is closer to the midsection of the mouth while the female genital opening is closer to the tail. That’s the only way you can tell if it's male or female—because they don’t see the wrong balls on their head!

Yeah, well, I mean, I can’t believe we have a manatee somewhere in those waters that you’re looking at! Everybody, there is a manatee floating around live! It doesn't get much better than that!

Now, Jamal, keep an eye out for that, but I'm going to talk a little bit more. I want to talk more about the, um, the issues—you’ve touched on it already, you know, habitat degradation and collision with boats—big, big issues facing our manatees. How much of a problem is it in terms of their survival long term as a species? They are endangered already, but I mean, are you optimistic?

I’m always optimistic because I feel like there is hope. If we lose hope, then there’s no hope and then that’s the last resort, and we can—I can’t lose hope on a species that I’ve committed my life to. I’ve committed to managing them. I’m going to ensure they're protected, and even if it means saving the last one until that year, I’m going to be here to do so. But, um, you’re right—saying that boat strikes are concerning to manatees in Belize.

Um, it’s concerning us—Belize has the highest population of these calves in the world! Population estimates are around 1,000 individuals, but the rate of racing continues to increase every year, and fortunately, the majority of these deaths are as a result of watercraft collision. So we've been working very closely with tour operators, boat captains, and the likes of people on the water to ensure that we can mitigate collisions because it’s very critical for the survival of the species.

The first thing—saying that we only have 1,000, and every year the numbers of deaths goes up, it’s definitely a need for concern. But I’m very hopeful, I’m very optimistic—particularly because of the next generation! They’re so excited about conservation, so excited to come out and volunteer! And I feel that they may be able to continue to push, continue to work, continue to ensure that manatees are safe and released. And that's one of my biggest goals: to ensure I can inspire the next generation to want to be a part of conservation—to want to be a part of change. So, when I no longer am unable to do this—which I don't think there's ever an end to it for me—there's no generation here to do it as well!

The manatee man is the manatee man for life, definitely!

And, um, just talk about collision specifically. I mean, it was big as well when I learned about manatees in Florida and how you behave around manatees in those waters is super important.

So can you just explain a little bit more about what are the rules and regulations that you're trying to push for, to make sure manatees don't get hit by boats?

Sorry, my land is! It’s much easier for a boat to avoid them and entertain them, and to have weather! But so what we do is to try and make it easier for boats in the sense that our research led to the understanding of where the species is, where it's hanging out, and where it's spending time.

We de-mark these areas with signage so that boaters know, "Okay, this is the manatee here; I need to go slow!" We try to do patrols to ensure they're adhering to these scenes. We put up PSAs. But whenever you’re on a boat, especially in shallow areas—especially in seagrass beds—try to go slow or avoid shallow areas, because if you’re in shallow water, manatees have no place to dive to avoid the boat!

And if you know an area is known as the manatee area, going fast in these areas doesn’t help at all! It’s encouraged to wear polarized sunglasses when you’re on the water; it helps to glare so you can see much clearer! And it’s encouraged that when you’re in manatee areas, to adhere to the boating regulations that are put in place to ensure these animals are safe.

And if you do hit them, it’s very, very critical that you report it! Reporting it might be the difference in saving their life or having us come out and remove a dead carcass!

Absolutely! It’s about, I guess, having just a respect that, you know, you're in their environment, and they're not necessarily the fastest-moving species, are they?

So really, in a boat with speed, you have the upper hand, and fascinating and really, really important conservation work.

Um, Jamal, we’ve got some more questions coming in! Obviously, you're very passionate, and I think people are maybe picking up on that. So what made you interested in this field, and how did you find your passion?

I wouldn’t say I found my passion; I think about my passion for me! Yes, to become an attorney! I always felt that I was meant to be in a courtroom. But, um, learning about these animals and seeing, for the first time, seeing them under the water, I’d never seen this under the water until I started to volunteer—seeing them—they're so peaceful, so gentle, but yet so peaceful! And understanding that these animals are in trouble; they’re in danger—they're faced with something made me feel like I wish that I had some sort of superhero power! I could put them up and put them somewhere safe, but I can't do that!

So I decided to dedicate my life to try and put measures in place to ensure they're protected. But not to protect them on their own, but to create an environment where they don’t need to be protected!

So that means changing people’s behavior—changing people's mentality towards them and some of the threats. Are you spoken about particularly, um, you know, the protection of their habitat?

Obviously, things are changing around the world. Are the global threats to manatees the same? You know, is the loss of seagrass really going to impact manatees on a global level?

Correct! Climate change is the biggest trip to the world, to all species—not just manatees! Changing climate change in temperature, changing water levels will definitely impact seagrass. Less seagrass production means less food for manatees! They depend on healthy seagrass beds for survival.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of threats for manatees, and they have no control. So I think if we can limit the amount of threats that we have that we can control, as a result of human activity, they have a longer surviving chance. But it's not just climate change and boats—it's destruction of coastal habitat! People are tearing down mangroves, dredging seagrass beds to build mega cruise ships and marinas—destroying the very environment that we call home!

Destroying the very environment that the animals need to survive! Things such as pollution—plastic pollution—is critical too! One of these as well—plastic finds its way into the seagrass beds, and these manatees come by—feed on a piece of plastic, and they can die!

As a result, it is a problem! People do hunt manatees. It's the reason why they’re endangered in Belize, because they used to hunt them in the past. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but it’s still present. And we have things such as entanglement in fishing gears that are also a threat to manatees in Belize!

So these animals are facing many threats, but the main threat currently is the watercraft collision, which is something that we can change and we can control.

So important work! A great question has just come in. Um, and you’ve talked about some of these really kind of harrowing issues, but what are the difficulties in your field? Um, that's someone—that's something that someone’s just asked. I think from me to you as well. Do you find it really difficult when you get to see, you know, a manatee that's ingested plastic?

It is hard! It is hard, but also I have to ensure that I keep my composure. I have to keep the goal at hand! I can get as emotionally entwined with my relationship with these individuals that we come across, but I have to train to stay strong! I have to ensure I have the long-term goal at hand!

I've lost someone—anything—but the goal is to save the next five to ensure that the next five doesn't become that way! But it is difficult for anyone to see an animal with its back literally opened up from a watercraft! It is not the most pleasant sight, and it's not the most encouraging sight!

And sometimes I feel like I’ve made some wrongs, and then you take—you take five steps back. But I can’t afford to fall! I can’t afford to let go of the rope, because it means so much stride! Since I’ve been—since I’m 11 years old, I’ve seen so much positive that has encouraged me to continue that I can’t make the negatives make me crumble or fall! If I crumble and fall, then the species crumble and fall, and that's not what I want!

So I have to be very strong-minded, dedicated, and very real!

Absolutely! Every waking moment, I can imagine if you're thinking of manatees! And so would you say that's probably some of the biggest difficulties in what you do, or are there lots of practical issues as well?

Some of the practical—um, sometimes, majority of the stuff includes humans! Most of my difficulties are normally entwined amongst humans. And though we go with encouraged and inspire many people to change, there are individuals that are more difficult to change—there are individuals that may not see it as important.

And when you hit and speak to that, it's very depressing; it’s very discouraging to know that there’s a human being who does find hate!

And as we always say, we’re not born with hate! People learn hate! And how can you hate an animal that has done nothing to you? How can you dislike something that has never harmed you in any way?

Yeah, yeah!

So those are the things sometimes that I feel that are barriers that are hard to crack, but still I’m optimistic! Still I speak to these people, so I reach out to them. I don’t avoid them because it’s easy for us to try and convince the already convinced!

Preaching to the already converted—no, my goal is to preach to the ones that are not converted! Don't understand—that do not see the importance! So me, I spend a lot of time speaking to these individuals that feel that it's not important because I feel like if I can make this one individual see the difference in why they should change, I feel that I've gained some critical growth!

Absolutely! And, and I think you are making that change, Jamal!

We just had a really good question come in! How can we help? Jamal is what they've written. So you are probably reaching those people right now! How can people, sat on their sofas, sat in places where they've never seen a manatee, help you?

Well, they can help us! First of all, by staying informed! You can follow us on Instagram—you can look up Clearwater Marine Aquarium! Um, there are many different ways of how you can get involved with different projects! You can support! You can fund! You can volunteer!

Countability and volunteer and assist! We've got volunteers coming from all over the world—you’re welcome to come to Belize to assist with our efforts! You can share our efforts, you can join another cause! You can protect your environment that you live in! And most of all, follow our work and stay in tune! That way you can know what’s happening and you can find ways that you can be a part of our effort!

Um, we are always posting on social media—Clearwater Marine Aquarium! You can visit us at seawinter.org to follow our great work across the world, including Belize!

Fantastic stuff! And you’re obviously kind of very inspirational, very passionate, and very dedicated, and I think that's what conservation really, really needs.

Um, we’ve got more questions coming in, but Jamal, I'm counting on you to bring us one more manatee before the end of this live! No biggie, but you've got about five minutes!

I know! We have our eyes on Deck! Everybody’s looking right now, including myself! The balls on the water—

Um, okay—another question—do you track all the manatees in your area?

Great question! We don't track all of them in our area! Since 1996, we’ve actually handled 108 Antillean manatees! We’ve done health checks on each one of these! Um, we put a PIT tag in them—like you put in dogs! So if they die, you know who it is if you catch it again! You know who it is!

But we haven’t caught all manatees in our area! The areas that we normally do track manatees are areas that are presenting the highest threats, so we can understand how these threats are impacting the animals!

We don't catch manatees in areas that don't have threats! So it’s only the areas that are massively developed, heavily trafficked, and causing serious impact to their species!

Otherwise, I guess you would have no real reason to track them! Um, yeah, that totally makes sense! Um, and your day-to-day—if you could kind of describe your day-to-day or, yeah, I mean, after this, what will you be going to do—going through the mangroves, going to see manatees? What’s your day?

My day today, my days are very difficult! My days are very difficult to plan! And that’s the best part of my job—waking up not knowing what I'm going to do tomorrow! Because I can end up in another part of the country, being a rescue; I can be taken off this manatee! I can be in a school talking to three-year-olds! I can be in a university talking to university students! I can be at a public event giving a talk!

So for me, I have the best of all because I can be in the office; I can be in the field! But my day-to-day always involves manatees! Even on my day off, because I spend time talking about manatees! When I go to the market, when I go to dinner, I meet someone that wants to talk about manatees, and I never turn anybody down!

I'm always—if this isn’t—I when I tell them!

Fantastic!

Um, and just to kind of finish up, Jamal, is there anything else that you would like everyone watching to take away from this? What do you want your research and your role with manatee conservation to tell others?

Not just about manatees, but we’re living in some telling times, some troubling times, and people need to really wake up and see the problems that we are facing. Particularly the environmental problems—not just manatees, but other species.

And we all have a part to play in ensuring that these animals survive and our environment is safe. Be reminded that this is where we live! This is our home—not just for wildlife, but our home! Who doesn’t want to protect their home? That’s a little crude! But I encourage you to be a part of conservation, and we encourage you to be a part of supporting this effort!

And I encourage you to follow our work in Belize and to follow our efforts globally by following Clearwater Marine Aquarium! Staying tuned, staying informed, participating, sharing information on social media so that the world can see! I’ve told you stories; I've told you about manatees in Belize and their endangerment.

Now it’s your turn to go and tell those stories to your friends, your family members, and let people across the globe know about manatees in Belize, and know what air forces in Belize! And so I’d be surprised if I meet someone from this live in Belize volunteering with me one day!

Yes, I’m sure you’ll be flooded with them now!

Well, I hope so! And I'll be there, included! I tell you, this has been an absolute joy!

Any more—I do out with another manatee!

Hey, I mean, we’ve had one! I’m just being a little bit greedy, I think! You know, they’re sort of looking—hoping that!

It's so wrong, I guess! It’s equally important to remember that this is wildlife! This is, uh, completely wild manatees! You know? They do what they want!

That's absolutely fine with me! Jawal, you've been a real joy to chat to. Thank you ever so much for coming to us live from Belize!

Um, absolutely loved it! It’s wonderful!

It's a pleasure! It's a pleasure, and we're happy to be here with you guys on this showcase!

Belize has many, many different wonders! We’re considered to be Mother Nature's best-kept secret! And the only way is—

There you go! Go and support Jamal! Go and support the work of the Belize Manatee Conservation Program!

And learn all about them, what you can do to help manatees! If you don’t know much about manatees, go and learn more about them! You know, they’re such a vital species for our ecosystems, and they’re fantastic!

And so again, a massive thanks to Jamal for tuning in, and a massive thanks to all of you as well for joining! I hope you enjoyed it! And you've got that glimpse of that beautiful manatee there from the red mangroves of Belize!

And we'll see you again next week at the same time for another Meet the Expert!

See you later! Bye!