Little Known About Caribbean Marine Mammals – Experts

Text of report by Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) news agency on 19 July

Bridgetown, Barbados: Marine experts meeting in Barbados say very little is known about the status of the 34 species of marine mammals in the Caribbean as well as their risk of extinction.

“There are reasons for concern about the status of marine mammals in the wider Caribbean region where about one-fourth of the world’s marine mammals occur,” said Monica Borobia, a consultant to the UNEP’s Caribbean Environment Programme.

“However, for many countries there is still minimal information on their biology and conservation needs,” she said.

Some of major threats identified include bycatch of marine mammals during fishing, whale and dolphin watching and its possible effects on the mammals, pollution and habitat degradation.

The four-day regional workshop on marine mammals is organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Chairman of the US Marine Mammal Commission, Dr. John Reynolds, said that information on the West Indian manatee was very limited in comparison to manatees in Florida.

He said that while the Florida manatee was among the best studied marine mammals in the world, the Antillean or West Indian manatee was poorly studied.

“There is a lack of specific knowledge in the region. Threats to the manatees are severe but more information is needed to determine the specifics,” he told the 34 experts from around the region who are meeting to develop an action plan to protect marine mammals.

The organisers said the “Marine Mammals Action Plan” would set a framework to protect the populations of whales, dolphins, seals and manatees from a variety of threats.

It will also promote regional cooperation on research, information, education and allow for the exchange of technical expertise.

The plan will also a vital part of preventing further extinction of the mammals, said Alessandra Vanzella-Khouri, the UNEP representative in her presentation.

“The region has already lost the Caribbean Monk seal to extinction. We must make sure that this does not happen to other species,” she said while making a presentation on the Protocol Concerning Specially Protected Areas and Wildlife (SPAW), the sole regional biodiversity treaty, which is administered by UNEP.

“The conservation of marine mammals should be at the forefront of the priorities of the Caribbean nations and at the end of this meeting we should have a plan of action to start addressing this,” she said.

Presentation were also made by Randall Reeves from the Okapi Wildlife Association in Canada who examined the distribution and status of marine mammals and Courtney Vail, the US representative of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, who spoke on the socio- economic aspects of managing marine mammals.