Dead Manatee Left to Rot in Chetumal Bay as Authorities Fail to Respond

Chetumal, Quintana Roo — Fishermen have denounced the abandonment of a dead manatee in Chetumal Bay, saying environmental authorities have failed to retrieve the carcass days after it was first reported.

Local fishermen documented with photos and video that the remains of the marine mammal were still floating in the mangrove area near San Román, Belize—though on the Mexican side of the riverbank—as of Tuesday morning. They said the body is visible from a distance and easy to locate, situated about two to three kilometers from the Chetumal fiscal pier.

The fishermen reported the dead manatee to El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) last Saturday. ECOSUR is the agency responsible for recovering remains and conducting necropsies to determine causes of death in such cases.

However, no federal, state, or municipal environmental authority has visited the site to follow the required protocol, according to the fishermen’s account. The manatee was found at the mouth of the Rio Hondo where it meets Chetumal Bay.