We also sponsor and support Jamal Galves "The Manate Man" with all his work for National Geographic and efforts to Safeguard the Antillean Manatees of Belize. Conservationist and research biologist Jamal Galves is a 2017 Nat Geo Photo Ark EDGE Fellow and program coordinator for the Sea to Shore Alliance. Jamal grew up in a small village in southern Belize, where he developed a love for animals. He fell in love with manatees at the age of 11; today, his work centers on conserving the endangered Antillean manatees of his home country. For his efforts, he has been named an Oceana Ocean Hero, Belize National Hero, and World Wildlife Fund Planet Hero.

West Indian manatees are large, gray aquatic mammals with bodies that taper to a flat, paddle-shaped tail. They have two forelimbs, called flippers, with three to four nails on each flipper. Their head and face are wrinkled with whiskers on the snout. The manatee’s closest relatives are the elephant and the hyrax (a small, gopher-sized mammal). Manatees are believed to have evolved from a wading, plant-eating animal. The West Indian manatee is related to the West African manatee, the Amazonian manatee, the dugong, and Steller’s sea cow, which was hunted to extinction in 1768. The average adult manatee is about 10 feet long and weighs between 800 and 1,200 pounds.

Manatees are Florida’s official state marine mammal. They are listed as endangered at the international level by the IUCN World Conservation Union. They are listed as threatened at the federal level by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and at the state level by the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC). Their listing status is largely due to human activity. Since record-keeping began in 1974, more than 41% of manatee deaths where cause of death was identified were human-related – and almost 34% were due to watercraft collisions (the largest known cause of manatee deaths). With increased awareness, education, regulations, and enforcement, manatee deaths caused by humans could be substantially reduced, and the eventual recovery of the species could be realized. Learn more about Manatees...

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