"The Mystical Manatee"
By Ed Lusch
August 2004 Guadalajara-Lakeside Volume 20, Number 12

    This gentle, totally herbivorous (plant eating) aquatic mammal, somewhat resembling a hippo is found in estuary river systems draining into the southeast coast of Mexico, where its current population is estimated at between 400 to 800 animals.
    Tipping the scales at over 1,000 pounds, manatees require copious amounts of aquatic plants—10 to 15% of their body weight daily—to sustain their enormous bulk. These behemoth mammals with their paddle-like tails are known to migrate from estuary to estuary and while moving through offshore salt waters do of course come to the surface to breath oxygen as all mammals must. It is thought that sailors far too long at sea, and most certainly having swilled a bit more than their allotted share of rum, would spot these beasts as they broke the sea’s surface for air and reckoned them to be sea-beauties: giving rise to the lore of the mermaid. (Take one look at the mug of bewhiskered manatee and beautiful definitely does not come to mind. Ah, the soothing effects of a mug or four of Jamaican rum.)
    Because of its prodigious aquatic plant consumption, primarily water hyacinths, the manatee is highly valued in some coastal river systems for keeping boat waterways clear of obstructing mats of floating plants.
    Perhaps this aquatic plant removal capacity inspired in some Lakesiders the notion that if manatees could be captured and transplanted into Lake Chapala, the lirio problem would be solved, or at least partially controlled. This idea seems to be widely accepted locally and has been reported in several publications as having been carried out. In the March 2004 issue of the El Charal, for instance, it was reported that three manatees were introduced into Lake Chapala for lirio control sometime in the 1970s. One became entangled in a gill net and drowned, another was bashed over the head and killed by a fisherman who feared he was under attack, and the third manatee was shot to death. The article did state that no official records exist to verify this story. There seems to be little proof that this event actually took place although some residents do recall the scheme being discussed at town hall meetings.
    Can you imagine the logistics involved in capturing a wholly aquatic 1,000 pound plus animal on the southeast coast of Mexico and somehow getting it (or them) to Lake Chapala? A highly improbably task at best and certainly prohibitively expensive. But, I guess if manatees were thought to be sexy sirens of the oceans, anything is possible.
    The West Indian manatee, as it is officially named, is also found coastally in Florida, Central America and the Amazon River with small transient populations occasionally found in estuaries or rivers outside this range. But wherever manatees are found, they are endangered and, for the most part, their numbers are declining. The Florida manatee population may be holding its own or slightly rebounding thanks to the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act and the Save the Manatee Foundation spearheaded by the Grammy Award winning singer, Jimmy Buffet.
    Loss of suitable habitat is the chief culprit behind the decline of manatee populations in Mexican rivers and estuaries. Also contributing to their population demise is illegal hunting, (they are legally protected under several Mexican conservation laws and internationally through CITES) collisions with boat propellers, entanglement in fishing gill nets, pollution, and oil spills. Even with manatee protection programs in effect and enforced, a low reproductive rate—one calf born every 2 to 5 years—prohibits a rapid population comeback. Manatees have few, if any, natural enemies.
    Anthropological research indicates the Mayans used manatee bones and other body parts in religious ceremonies, consumed manatee meat, used its oils for cooking, and utilized the hide and sinew for thread, clothing and accouterments. Evidence suggests the Mayan culture revered the animals for its “giving” and gentle nature and imbued it with supernatural qualities.
    This connection with the spiritual world of the ancient Mayans; this tap to the imagination of sex-starved, rum-laden sailors, “Aye, mi hardy, look at the ass on that lass,” and the spawning of fanciful stories of armadas of trucks laden with giant creatures bound for massive meals of Lake Chapala lirio by Lakesiders perhaps inspired by other spirits, all lend credence to the mystic of the manatee.

Photo by Laura Osteen
www.manateewoman.com

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