Working to Make a Difference with the Manatees of Belize

FEATURE JAMAL GALVES – WWW.CMARESEARCHINSTITUTE.ORG

Jamal Galves has always been fascinated by manatees. As a young boy, he would spend long hours on his grandparents’ lawn in the small village of Gales Point Manatee, and watch the gentle giants swim through the lagoon. His imagination flooded his young mind with the thought of manatees. He dreamt of one day being able to work with these gentle giants, and he didn’t have to dream for long as his dream soon became a reality at a very young age.

The year Galves had turned 11, he strolled down to the dock where a manatee research team would leave from each morning and he approached the man he believed to be in charge. That man’s name was Dr James “Buddy” Powell, whom Jamal later found out, was a renowned manatee conservationist. Jamal forwardly asked him if he could join the team. Considering his young age, Powell was reluctant to accept initially, but after many attempts from the persistent young Galves, Powell allowed him to hop aboard the boat and join the research team. The team began to notice Galves’ enthusiasm for their line of work. He came back day after day, eager to learn more, and help wherever he could.

At the age of 16, Galves was officially hired as a field assistant by the research team of the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute (CMARI), formally known as the Sea to Shore Alliance. Today, Galves is now the Programme Coordinator for CMARI’s Belize field office and he has committed his life to working with endangered manatees to preserve their coastal environment.

Galves has received a lot of recognition and awards for his work in conservation, including the Belize National Hero Award, Oceana Belize Ocean Hero, World Wildlife Foundation Planet Hero, The Dodo Hero, and the National Geographic Explorer to name a few. He was recently awarded the 2021 Wildlife Conservation Society Christensen Conservation Leadership Scholarship, and is now pursuing a Masters degree in Coastal Science and Policy at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

Manatees in Belize face numerous threats, including, but not limited to: watercraft collisions, habitat destruction, pollution, and poaching. The plight and the importance of these gentle giants are unknown by many. Galves works to continuously raise awareness about manatees and conducts research to better understand them. The information gathered is used to influence policies and lobbies to gain better protection for this endangered species and their ecosystem. Galves’ research has been used to lobby for, and successfully put in place, speed limits in areas well-known to be frequented by manatees.

Despite the many perils faced by manatees in Belize and beyond, Galves remains hopeful for this species’ survival and is committed to his life’s journey to ensure their future. “As a child I never would have thought manatees would be endangered, nor did I fully understand the levity of the term. Over time, I learned how one person could truly make a difference and help to protect a species. That is why I do what I do. To make a difference,” said Galves. Ultimately, he wishes to inspire the next generation through his efforts and determination to save this species.“The most valuable things in life are usually the most helpless, so they need people like us to protect them and we never give up, and we show up! That is what we do for the ones we love.”