The Puerto Rican Manatee Conservation Center has started a campaign to educate residents and travelers alike in manatee conservation.
The Puerto Rican Manatee Conservation Center is a non-profit research and rehabilitation organization that runs primarily on donations and limited government funding. Thus, its perpetuation depends on public interaction. Visitors can see first-hand how top scientists perform conservation and husbandry efforts. Visitors may volunteer at the Center and prepare food for the manatees, chopping up pounds of lettuce, sweet potatoes, pears, and sea plants. Then, volunteers can feed the manatees and interact with them, while learning from a world-class expert in field, Dr. Antonio Mignucci. By familiarizing people with manatees, Dr. Mignucci hopes to instill wildlife conservation values in public consciousness.
Manatees have been declared an endangered species. Once viewed as sea gods and mermaids that were prized for their meat and medicinal properties, manatees have been driven to near extinction due to over-hunting, boat-propeller accidents, and habitat degradation. The volunteer programs at the Center seek to emphasize the bond between human and manatee, teaching in concrete scientific terms how that which affects them, affects us, and vice versa.
For example, I learned that increasing numbers of manatees are dying from toxoplasmosis, a disease typically spread by a parasite found in kitty litter. A pregnant manatee might ingest the parasite while swimming—because tons and tons of kitty litter are dumped in the ocean each year—and transmit the deadly disease to her unborn fetus, greatly reducing the reproductive potential of the species. But why should this concern mankind? Why should we participate in the Center’s activism and fund-raising efforts? Well, should a pregnant woman swim in Puerto Rico’s waters of tropical paradise that we share with the manatee, she, too, could get infected and transmit the parasite to her unborn fetus, which might cause encephalitis, neurologic diseases, and even death.
Currently, the Center houses three rescued manatees: a dwarf-sized manatee named Aramaná; a crippled manatee named Guacara; and a newborn manatee named Maya. When feeding time comes, Aramaná chases after his pears and sweet potatoes like a chicken without a head, while Guacara, who is much older and wiser, merely rests his lumbering body on the sides of his tank and lets the current carry leaves of lettuce right into his mouth. After dinner, that giant, bulky creature entertains himself by tumbling in circles and doing flips as lithely as Cirque du Soleil performer.
Meanwhile, Maya adorably bobs up and down not for air, but for attention. She makes it very clear that she wants food, suckling on the taps of her tank in impatient desperation. As a volunteer, I am allowed to feed her. I support her whiskery chin with one hand and the bottle with the other. She greedily drinks the bottle down to its end in a minute or two, her eyes closed in bliss. Pleased, the sweet baby returns to the privacy beneath the water.
With their sharp memories, the manatees are more like “sea elephants” than “sea cows.” Their paddle-like flippers with little toenails remind me of a flattened elephant foot. And sure enough, elephants and hyraxes are their closest living relatives.
The Center provides visitors the opportunity to interact intimately with an endangered species and give back to the community by supporting its diverse local wildlife. The Center is located a mere thirty minutes from San Juan and a volunteer visit would make a lovely afternoon for any traveler, especially for those with children.
While the Center has rehabilitated dozens of rescued manatees throughout the years, their efforts have not been without difficulty. Right now, baby Maya needs our help. If she is lucky, she will be released back into the wild. Since the rescue of a newborn was unexpected, the Center is currently trying to raise $12,000 of emergency funding to purchase milk formulas and medical equipment in order to ensure the baby’s healthy development and rehabilitation. You, too, can make a difference in this little manatee’s life by donating even the slightest amount to Maya’s fundraiser.
