Manatees, Manatees Everywhere!

August 28th to September 9th, 2002, we joined Katie LaCommare and Caryn Self Sullivan in the Drowned Cayes, Belize to help with their research on these gentle, endangered sea mammals. Katie and Caryn are attempting to gather baseline data on manatees in order to help the Belizean government create conservation policies and set aside areas to protect them and their habitats.

Katie and Caryn have returned home but return to Belize each February to continue their studies.

While we were there we spent most of our days in a small boat on the water as well as IN the water gathering data. Traveling with us this year was a team of ten dedicated individuals.

Be sure to read all about the background information on what researchers already know about manatees, familiarize yourself with the research questions Katie and Caryn are attempting to answer, and take a look at the tools they use to gather and analyze data in their ongoing research. You may also want to read about our daily adventures and view photographs of our expedition.

Like our Amazon river dolphin expedition to Peru and our Roloway monkey expedition to Ghana, we used our computers, satellite phone, digital cameras, and solar panels to post the data we gathered and highlights of our trip to this website so you could follow along. Read all about how we do what we do.

bigchalk has posted resources for teachers and students so that you can learn even more about these wonderful creatures. Be sure to check out their interactive map of Belize!