Honduras and Belize
Manatee Projects
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Honduras and Belize |
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The small airplane shown in the photo at right is on the flight line at Goloson International Airport, La Ceiba Honduras. It belongs to LightHawk International and was used for recent aerial surveys of manatees along the North coast of Honduras in April 2006. The person standing to the right (top right photo) is Daniel Gonzalez, a graduate student at Loma Linda University, Department of Earth and Biological Sciences, School of Science and Technology; the person standing to the left is Cynthia Taylor a manatee aerial survey specialist from Wildlife Trust and editor of Sirenews (see Sirenian International).
The top left photo also includes Saul Flores (far right) a wildlife biologist with UNAH (National Autonomous University of Honduras) and its Museum of Natural History, and the pilot--Chuck Schroll--middle back in the blue-green shirt.
The Honduras Manatee Project is being done under the auspices of the USAID/MIRA project in Honduras: Manejo Integrado de Recursos Ambientales and in association with other local NGOs and government agencies such as REHDES, FUCSA, SERNA, AFE-COHDEFOR, etc--see some of our partners HERE.
LightHawk article - Winter 2006-2007: Finding the Elusive Manatees of Honduras. By Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske.
Brief news item:Sirenews (No. 45 April 2006 - pages 18-21 - PDF ) about the Honduras aerial surveys as well as testing of a sonar device to study manatees.
Quicktime movie - 22 MB - aerial surveys on the coast of Honduras April 2006 (see also Chromatrope - Aerial Survey video clip).
Final Report - Manatee Aerial Surveys, North Coast of Honduras - March/April 2006
PRIMER SIMPOSIO PARA LA BIOLOGÍA Y CONSERVACIÓN DEL MANATÍ ANTILLANO EN MESOAMERICA - First Mesoamerican Symposium on Manatee Biology and Conservation - Agenda and Abstracts in Spanish (PDF document).
Thesis: Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske. Status and Distribution of Manatees in Honduras and the Use of Side-Scan Sonar (PDF). LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY, School of Science and Technology in conjunction with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. June 2007.
The exact number of West Indian manatee ( Trichechus manatus ) in the Caribbean regions and along the coast of Central America is relatively unknown (UNEP, 1995; Lefebvre et al., 2001). The characterization of the local and regional habitat of the Antillean manatee (Trichechus manatus manatus) was determined to be a top priority in order to protect and preserve the remaining populations. Recent studies have been focusing on this in Mexico, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua (Olivera-Gomez and Mellink, 2005; Jimenez, 2005).
Historical manatee populations in Honduras are unknown, with the exception of infrequent records of continuing existence (Lefebvre et al., 2001). Cerrato (1993) guessed the manatee population in Honduras at 120-140, in a report to the United Nations, mainly based on anecdotal information and two brief studies done a decade before (Klein, 1979; Rathbun et al., 1983).
Rathbun et al. (1983) sighted 11 manatees during a 13-hour aerial survey of the entire Atlantic coast of Honduras. They subsequently surveyed the coast, rivers and lagoons between El Porvenir and Zambuco five more times sighting manatee 40 more times. While conducting night surveys for crocodiles, Klein (1979) sighted three manatees in Laguna Siksa. He then conducted interviews of local fishermen to determine relative abundances along the coast. See outline map and satellite map.
We propose to conduct a systematic manatee population survey in the North Coast of Honduras. Our overall objective is to (1) determine manatee occupancy rate, (2) determine habitat use and important habitat variables for manatee presence, and (3) determine relative abundance of manatees within the survey area on the north coast of Honduras. See Cuero y Salado map.
Presentation (PDF): SMBC, Society for Mesoamerican Biology and Conservation Congress, November 22, 2005, La Ceiba Honduras: USAID/ MIRA (Proyecto Manejo Integrado de Recursos Ambientales) Symposium:
Biodiversidad en las Areas Protegidas de Honduras: Resultados Preliminares de Estudios de Poblaciones de Flora y Fauna: Nuevas Observaciones de Manati Antillano, Trichechus manatus manatus, en la Costa Norte de Honduras.
Poster (PDF 69 MB): Society for Marine Mammalogy, Biennial Conference on the Biology of Marine Mammals 12-16 December, 2005, Manchester Grand Hyatt San Diego in San Diego, CA.:
The Use of Side Imaging Sonar to Study Manatees in Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge, Honduras. Gonzalez-Socoloske, Daniel1*; Bacchus, Marie-Lys C.1; Ford, Robert E.11. Loma Linda University. Dept. of Earth and Biological Sciences, Loma Linda, CA, 92350, USA *dgonzalez01x@llu.edu
LightHawk article - Winter 2006-2007: Finding the Elusive Manatees of Honduras. By Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske.
Final Report - Manatee Aerial Surveys, North Coast of Honduras - March/April 2006. USAID/MIRA Project. June 2006.
PRIMER SIMPOSIO PARA LA BIOLOGÍA Y CONSERVACIÓN DEL MANATÍ ANTILLANO EN MESOAMERICA - First Mesoamerican Symposium on Manatee Biology and Conservation - Agenda and Abstracts in Spanish (PDF document).
Thesis: Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske. Status and Distribution of Manatees in Honduras and the Use of Side-Scan Sonar (PDF). LOMA LINDA UNIVERSITY, School of Science and Technology in conjunction with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. June 2007.
That's me (Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske) next to a 12 ft crocodile poached while we were conducting manatee research in Cuero y Salado (Photo by Marie-Lys Bacchus). Marie-Lys is doing similar manatee research in Belize--see Home of the Manatee.
Jose "Chepe" Paz (refuge ranger and my MUCH appreciated assistant) getting some water visibility measurements next to a feeding site used by manatees (Photo by Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske).
Here I am again next to our faithful boat. The shore on the other side of me is where the visitor center is in the Rio Salado (Photo by Jose Paz).
Every once and awhile Chepe and I would take a break and leave the work of scanning for manatees to our little friend. By the way the building with the green roof in the background is the new visitor center of Cuero y Salado Wildlife Refuge administered by FUCSA. We are in the middle of Rio Salado (Photo by Daniel Gonzalez-Socoloske). If you have any questions about our work contact me at dgonzalez01x@llu.edu.
Marie-Lys Bacchus, a graduate student at Loma Linda University, is doing manatee research in the Drowned Cayes of Belize (see BRIEF REPORT). Go to her online diary (Home of the Manatee) from her work with EarthWatch Institute during the summer of 2005.
She will be returning there in the summer of 2006 to complete field research for her Master's degree. Here is a POWERPOINT describing her research efforts so far.
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The Drowned Cayes of Belize are a great spot to study manatees. These mangrove islands about 30 minutes outside of Belize City offer plenty of shelter and seagrass beds for these marine mammals. Caryn Self-Sullivan and Katie LaCommare have been studying manatees here for many years. My study tries to provide a small piece of the puzzle to their over-all project.
Manatees in the Drowned Cayes often rest in depressions in the benthic substrate that we call resting holes. These areas are usually found in dead-end bogues where there is minimal disturbance from humans, wind, waves, and currents.
The first goal of my study is to characterize these resting holes by collecting such data as width, depth, salinity, water temperature, and water velocity.
The second goal is to pick four of these resting holes and conduct 30 minute scans during the day and at night to see if they use the resting holes differently depending on time of day and on environmental parameters associated with the resting holes at different times.
I spent the first summer (2005) trying to refine my methods and conducting 30 minutes scans at four resting holes. Summer 2006 will involve the four scan sites again, as well as characterizing as many resting holes as possible (about 20 of them).
I am looking forward to working with Caryn, Gilroy Robinson and the Earthwatch volunteers once again! Without their help and support, as well as Teresa Parkey’s help, I could not have accomplished this project.
We conduct our research in the Drowned Cayes of Belize. These mangrove islands are about
30 minutes from Belize City by boat. This is a typical mangrove area where the currents and
wave action tend to be small, and thus where manatees like to be.
On the first day I arrived in Belize in June 2005, we had to rescue Tiny the manatee. She had wondered in a dock area with high boat traffic, and might be hurt by a boat if we did not move her to a safer place. Having been in saltwater for a while, you can see a couple of barnacles growing on her, as well as some algae.
A typical day of research: out on the boat scanning for manatees, ready to write down any sightings and behaviors.
Scientist Caryn Self-Sullivan, boat driver Dorian and Earthwatch volunteers on their way to a scan site to observe manatees.
This is often what we see from out boats as we scan for manatees, just a little nose poking out of the water, like a floating coconut. It takes a couple of days to learn what to watch for. But if anyone spots one, “Breath!” is yelled out in the boat and a finger pointed in the direction of the manatee. Someone then notes the time, and all observations are recorded, such as how often the manatee takes a breath, and whether it is feeding or resting.
Sometimes the only indication that a manatee is around is a smooth round spot on the surface of the water created by pressure from the manatee tail as it is moving around. This might also be accompanied by a mud plume where the manatee stirs up the bottom when moving.
Revised: May 25, 2007
Robert E. Ford, Departments of Social Work and Social Ecology
and Earth and Biological Sciences
