Mexico's Manatees - the Sirens of the Caribbean

mother manatee and her calf grazing in Mexico — Manatees are often solitary creatures, but calves will stay with their mothers for up to two years

Probably fewer than 1,000 of these bulky but graceful mammals survive in Mexican waters. However, many are near popular dive sites and occasionally divers strike lucky

Words by Mark ‘Crowley’ Russell; pictures by Valentina Cucchiara

Manatees and their cousins, dugongs, represent the four remaining species of aquatic mammals of the order Sirenia, named after the Sirens of Greek mythology. Homer, in his Odyssey, doesn’t give them a physical description other than to say they ‘sit beside the ocean, combing their long golden hair and singing to passing sailors’, who, bewitched by the sweetness of the sirens’ song, crash their ships into the rocks.

Sirens morphed over the millennia into mermaids, a myth for which manatees have occasionally been credited as originators. Although the disconnect between the mythological depiction and the manatee’s actual appearance somewhat belies the idea, it is almost certain that many sightings of mermaids by sailors during the Age of Discovery were, in fact, of manatees.

Adult manatee grazing on algae — Manatees spend around eight hours a day eating around 50kg of plants

One of the most famous in the historical record is that of Christopher Columbus, who spotted three mermaids while sailing around the island that is now the Dominican Republic and Haiti, during his first crossing of the Atlantic in 1492. He described them as being ‘not as beautiful as they are painted, since in some ways they have a face like a man’.

It was this sighting that first brought manatees to the scientific literature of Europe, in a letter penned in 1494 by Nicoló Syllacio, a writer who accompanied Columbus during his voyages. The name appears to have originated in the indigenous Carib word manati, meaning ‘breast’, in turn a possible reference to the manatee’s mammary glands, which are located on their chests.

manatee comes to the surface to take a breath of air — Suspended effortlessly and weightlessly at the surface, a manatee interrupts its feeding to take a breath of fresh air

Later scholars may have Latinised the word to manatus, which means ‘having hands’, giving rise to their binomial classification, Trichecus manatus, a species which Carl Linnaeus describes as having ‘an upper lip walled with stiff, curved whiskers; no hair; pectoral breasts’ and – one assumes humorously – ‘musica delectature’ (delightful music).

There are three distinct species of manatee – the West African; the West Indian; and a third, smaller species native to the freshwater basin of the Amazon. The West Indian population has evolved a subspecies now known as the Florida manatee, but the Caribbean and the Atlantic coastline of Mexico and Brazil remain home to the species first described as Trichecus manatus.

Externally differentiated from dugong by their shorter, bristled snout and rounded paddle of their tails, compared to the dugong’s cetacean-like flukes, manatees have only six vertebrae in their necks, whereas most mammals have seven, giving them the somewhat endearing quality of being unable to turn their heads, instead having to move their entire body to look in different directions.

a manatee hovering mid water — Weighing up to 600kg as adults, manatees are bulky masters of neutral buoyancy

The manatee’s docile nature and mostly vegetarian diet, as a grazer of seagrass meadows and seaweed, is likely what led to its nickname of ‘sea cow’. Other than both being mammals, there is little biological linkage between these species (Sirenia’s closest land-based relatives are the elephants), but their similarly edible flesh, fat, and thick, expansive skin made manatees an easy alternative to cattle for the European colonists.

Slow to mature and reproduce, manatees of all species have struggled to recover from centuries of over-hunting. A third member of the Sirenia family, the cold-water-dwelling Steller’s sea cow, was hunted to extinction less than 30 years after it was first described in 1741, and by the turn of the 20th century, the
West Indian manatee was not far from joining it.

Today, the population of T. manatus is recovering – albeit slowly. In Mexico, their numbers remain critically low, and although they are now a protected species, they face a range of other threats, including the destruction of their habitat for coastal development, ghost-fishing nets, toxic algal blooms and boat strikes, as the hard-of-hearing giants remain peacefully oblivious to the low-pitch thrumming of propellers.

a manatee turning to look at the photographer — Manatees are unable to turn their heads, so must pivot their whole bodies to face the camera

Nevertheless, chance encounters are a distinct – and highly anticipated – possibility across a number of Mexico’s famous dive spots.

‘Manatees can be found in rivers, lagoons and shallow coastal areas of Veracruz, Tabasco, Campeche, Yucatán and Quintana Roo,’ says Mélina Soto, Mexico Coordinator for the Healthy Reefs for Healthy People Initiative, which works to preserve the Mesoamerican reef system on the basis that healthy reefs are essential for human existence.

‘In Quintana Roo, where we are based, they usually are found in the Sian Ka’an Biosphere Reserve and Chetumal Bay area but can be spotted in some coastal cenotes between Playa del Carmen and Tulum, and in the reef and mangrove lagoon between Puerto Morelos and Cancún.’

With an estimated total of just 1,000 individuals in Mexico, some might argue that manatee encounters should not be encouraged, but the simple fact of the matter is that even with such a sparse population, there is no guarantee that a manatee won’t turn up during a dive. It’s an encounter that many divers wouldn’t want to miss, and why responsible operators make a concerted effort to ensure they remain safe for the animals.

a manatee taking a breath with a snorkeller watching on — Despite the paddle tail and flippers, it’s not hard to see why they were named ‘sea cows’

a female manatee with her calf on her back — A female manatee gives her daughter a boost to the surface

‘Manatees are on the federal protected species list, which renders its hunting and trade a crime,’ says Soto. ‘There are several rescue centres where hurt or orphaned manatees are rehabilitated, and several sites were declared natural protected areas to protect their habitat.

‘There is no specific law in place for diving with manatees; however, there are good practice guidelines, we and others abide by,’ Soto adds. ‘It is forbidden to touch them in any way; keeping a distance of at least three metres, observing in silence, not coming between individuals of a group, or bothering the animal in its activities and making it feel unsafe.’

Although the manatee-mermaid myth is most likely to be apocryphal (they certainly don’t sit by the side of the ocean combing their hair), there is, nevertheless, something in the eyes of the manatees – sometimes described as being almost human – which makes underwater encounters with them particularly alluring.

a manatee in Mexico looking at the photographer — Divers say there is something in the manatees’ eyes that makes encounters particularly special

‘Diving or snorkelling with manatees is always so very special,’ says Soto. ‘If you respect their space and keep quiet, they will most of the time keep on with their business and leave you observing them all the time you want. Although they are big and heavy (about 600 kilos, once adult) they move so gently and gracefully in the water, with perfect buoyancy, not even disturbing silt from the bottom, that it infuses a feeling of calm and peace, almost meditation-like.

‘Being two mammals in the water, watching each other in respect and harmony is priceless,’ said Soto. ‘You feel a beautiful bond!’