The Manatee Project (Projeto Peixe Boi) began in 1980 with an initiative by the Federal Government of Brazil to preserve this marine mammal in Brazil, the greatest concentration of which is found at Barra de Mamanguape, in the state of Paraíba. The discovery of this strategic point on the Brazilian coast came after a long survey to identify the remaining population of these animals. And thus that beautiful estuary was the site of the first base station for the project.
However, the chief and best-equipped site for the Projeto Peixe Boi is in Pernambuco. Launched on the island of Itamaracá in 1990, it serves as the project’s headquarters and as a center for study and rehabilitation of animals which rescued along the coast. From 1998 on it has been known as the IBAMA Aquatic Mammal Center, contributing important discoveries in research on the species. Its facilities have been expanding, and it now possesses an oceanarium for observing adults, and tanks for young individuals and babies. They nurse until they are strong enough to be returned to the natural environment. The center is open for visits.
Monday is the day for biometrics and weighing of babies, activities which can be viewed by reporters. The tank is emptied, and a net hoists the animal to the examination area, there at the edge of the tank. Head veterinarian Jociery Verguara-Parente takes a blood sample, so that there won't be a contraction if the animal gets stressed. Manatees, like any mammal, get upset when not in their natural habitat.
Inside the Center there is an analytic lab where the blood collected from B-5, a young female rescued after beaching close to Canoa Quebrada, Ceará, will be stored. B-5, which will be named during a campaign for the Project, is familiar to the Projeto Mar Sem Fim (Project Endless Sea). When sailing in Ceará, in the south, near Canoa Quebrada, we were alerted to the beaching, and passed the information on to the state branch of IBAMA. It was a relief to see that she was well, and growing with each passing month. Along with Rio Grande do Norte, Ceará is one of the states the highest numbers of beached manatees.
The most immediate concern of the Projeto Peixe Boi is to preserve the 300 to 500 animals which still remain along the coast.
The biggest threat used to be from the fisherman's harpoon. Now it is another sort of human activity. Deforestation and poor use of the mangue (coastal bayou areas), which shelter great marine biodiversity, may lead to the extinction of the marine manatee in Brazil. Water pollution, silting up of the bars in the river, and a lack of koronivia grass (capim agulha in Portuguese), the basis of the food chain for the mammal, are the greatest threats.
This would be a sad end for such a docile and friendly animal, a dweller in these waters since before the arrival of the Portuguese who, after a few bottles of Port, believed that they were mermaids, due to their curves. This, in fact, gave the name to the order of the species: Sirenae.
If nature in Brazil was perplexing on its own, imagine the reaction in the sixteenth century upon meeting a manatee. It is “larger than an ox, covered by a hard skin similar in color to that of an elephant," wrote Padre José de Anchieta, wrote in 1560: We should continue his fascination and try to preserve as much as we can of our fauna and flora. Now that we have gotten so much closer to the marine manatees, we must help them to continue swimming slowly along our coast.
Paulina Chamorro is a reporter with the Mar Sem Fim (Endless Ocean) Project. She and the rest of the crew are traveling the entire coast of Brazil, from Oiapoque in the extreme north to Chuí at the country’s southernmost tip in a sailboat, producing content for media outlets that include Brazil’s TV Cultura and BrazilMax.
Translated from the original Portuguese by Tom Moore. Tom is a classical musician and translator who lives in Rio de Janeiro. His most recent CD of trio sonatas by Boismortier is available from A Casa Estúdio.
The Projeto Peixe Boi official website. Information for visitors can be found on the Itamaracá center’s website. The project’s center at the Barra de Mamanguape in the town of Rio Tinto, Paraíba, runs excursions to view manatees in their natural habitat.
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