S6. E19: Jamal Galves: Manatee Man
“It made me feel like I wished that I had some sort of a superpower so that I could just pick them up and take them somewhere safe. But unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to have done that. So what I did was decide, at 11 years old, that I was going to commit my life to safeguarding the species… that I'll do everything in my power.”
– Jamal Galves
Jamal Galves grew up in a small village in Belize that's famous for its Manatee population. When he was 11 years old, he saw a research boat near his home and got curious. He asked the scientists if he could tag along on their expedition, and for some reason, they said yes. And, they let him come back the next day and again and again for the next five years, until finally, when he was 16, they gave him a job.
Now, 20 years later, he is the program coordinator for the Belize Manatee Conservation Program at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute.
Jamal sees it as his life's mission to protect and save these gentle giants. Antillean manatees are a vulnerable species and their population is dwindling. They face numerous threats, from habitat loss, hunting, boat collisions, fishing gear, and natural disasters. Jamal’s work provides science and education to conserve them and provides the data for establishing sanctuaries, reducing watercraft speed limits, and fighting poaching.
Jamal made a promise to the manatees when he was a little kid and not a day has passed since that he hasn’t lived up to it.
Learn More About the Belize Manatee Conservation Program at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium
Jamal Galves, National Geographic
Follow Jamal on Instagram
Transcript:
Jamal: [00:00:15] Immunity, if you like, I wish that I had some sort of a superhero power that I could just pick up and take them somewhere safe. But unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to have done that. So, what I did was I decided that living is what I was going to quit my life. To safeguard the species, and I will do everything in my power.
Elizabeth: [00:00:39] Hi, I'm Elizabeth Novogratz. This is Species Unite, for the month of august we are asking you to join us in our mission to change the way that the world treats animals and become a member of Species Unite. The benefits of joining are pretty awesome. For a monthly donation of any size, even two bucks, you will receive access to exclusive content, outtakes, bonus podcast episodes, updates and newsletters, priority access to all Species Unite events and a welcome pack from yours truly. So go to our website Species Unite and click Become a member. This conversation is with Jamal Galves, otherwise known as the Manatee Man. Jamal grew up in a small village in Belize, a village that's famous for its manatee population. When he was 11 years old, he saw a research boat, got curious and asked if he could tag along. For some reason, they let him, and they let him come back all the time for the next five years until finally, when he was 16, they gave him a job. Now, 20 years later, he is the program coordinator for the Police Manatee Conservation Program at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute. He sees it as his life's mission to protect and save these gentle giants. When I first learned about you, I was just in awe of all that you've done and your story. Also, I just know so little about manatees that it made me all the more interested. I'm really excited to have you. So thank you.
Jamal: [00:02:39] I'm glad to be a part. Glad to share as best as I can.
Elizabeth: [00:02:43] Let's go back to when you were a kid and how all this started, because it's a pretty crazy, incredible story. Will you talk about where you grew up and manatees in your life and what you thought about them then and how that shifted.
Jamal: [00:03:01] So as a kid, I grew up in a very small coastal community named Guilds, playing manatee, famously known for his presence there as a kid, cinnamon and things like seeing a bird or duck or something, just a normal animal that you see on a daily basis. It wasn't a big deal for me. It wasn't something that was astonishing because I've grown up seeing it my entire life. My grandma lives on the water. So we'd often see them right offshore swimming while feeding along. We would often see them off the boats when we would go to my grandfather, he'd point them out to us. But at the age 11, what really sparked my interest was seen as weird looking, what drives by with the engine front The Hightower kind. It was something I'd never seen before and on the boat it said, Man on TV search. So as a kid, I started to question what these guys are doing. I eventually learned that they were doing volunteer research within my community. They're studying the species to try and develop a conservation action to safeguard the species. So I sure don't do that where they live, where I actually met Dr. James Buddy Powell, who is actually my boss today. I approached him as an 11 year old kid and I said, “Dr. Powell, I'd like to talk with you guys.” He looked at me for a second, this small 11-year-old skinny kid. He said, “Ah kid you're too small.” I understand what he meant as it's not a place for a small kid. You're dealing with large species nets. It can be dangerous for a kid. You can be in the way most of the time. But I'm pretty sure it was. I'm about the crisis that made him change his mind and say, ah kid, let's go. I didn’t even ask my grandmother's permission, which had some consequences.
Elizabeth: [00:04:45] What do you think made him say yes?
Jamal: [00:04:48] I think he saw a lot of himself in me after hearing his story. He was that kid, too, Daniel Hartman working in Crystal River trying to study the species, not knowing the area, and saw a kid on the boat that knows the area and I got to tag along. So I think he may have seen a bit of himself in me. Just as this curious little kid wanting to be a part of the team, wanting to learn, wanting to just be out on the boat. It could have been that they have played on his and his heart and his decision to say, You know what? Let's go, kid. That's where my journey began, being a manatee’s best friend. I got on the boat.
Elizabeth: [00:05:27] What did they have you do on the boat?
Jamal: [00:05:30] I was taking blood samples, genetic samples, looking at their heart rate, looking for disease, anything that could provide some important information to them that would help to safeguard the species. Perhaps you'll find that there's trace elements of this blood. Perhaps we are recognizing the important issue. It's really an important expedition, a really important research expedition that helps researchers. It helps us to lobby the government, to lobby for better protection for the species. Whether it means enforcing or designating zones or establishing wildlife sanctuaries or protected areas. So really, it is really an important part of our work. It is really the proof that we need to to substantiate our decisions and why these species are needed to be protected.
Elizabeth: [00:06:19] So you kept going back to the boat like year after year?
Jamal: [00:06:22] They would come twice a year in the wet season and the dry season. After the first year of me being there, I can remember very clearly being out in the boat with these guys. I was so fascinated seeing them out in the water. I've never seen them in the water. I was so excited, I had never seen how large they actually are. What stunned me was that this large chain just laid there gently, and that really resonated with the name General James as they refer to them as John John. But what I did as an 11 year old kid was, first, I just stood back and I basically memorized the entire process. I knew when they were going to take blood and knew when they're going to do just something, when they're going to do every single procedure I would memorize it in my head. When I got home that evening, I'm not sure if it was my fascination with it that made me not able to sleep. I got up at about four o'clock in the morning, taking a shower. My grandmother said ‘who is in there taking a shower?’ I said ‘me.’ She said, ‘Why are you taking a shower at this hour?’ I'm like, ‘I'm going to go help do research.’ And she's like, ‘They don't leave until nine o'clock. Go to your bed.’ Nonetheless, I got there on somewhere about five to six, and Dr. Pearl was sitting there with his dark sunglasses, drinking coffee, and I remembered what equipment goes and what boots. So this little kid is struggling with these bins of equipment loading them onto the boats, and he just sits and looks at me, probably wondering, what the hell is this kid doing. When the crew got there, the equipment's already loaded. Nobody asked any questions. They just got on the boats and we left. So after memorizing the first day before, they could have said, Get me the medical kit IRA. I already got the medical kit, before they said get me the tape measure I already got it because I knew the entire process. I memorized the entire process. It's just me training to be a part of the team. You want to feel free, relevant to feel like I'm doing something and holding something. I'm actually important to the team. But nobody really in my mind at that time, nobody really recognized me for it. They would sense. I was trying to impress, when I went in to look at me to say, Look at this kid, look at this. But he was so busy with everything else that I didn't think that he noticed me at the time. So every year I said, “You know, I'm not going to go back because they don't appreciate me. They don't see me. I'm just a kid. That's in the way.” But nonetheless, I'm there every year. What kept me coming was that these doctors really took the time to teach me different things I went from, from literally standing in the corner to holding the tape measure, just the passing equipment, the evangelical card and eventually learning how to take stuff such as heart rate, blood. All these more important activities that they were doing on this piece. I was actually taught how to do that, but what really kept me here was learning that these are endangered, learning that they're in trouble, learning that somebody needs to do something to save them. It made me feel like I wished I had some sort of a superhero power that I could just pick up and take them somewhere safe. But unfortunately, I'm not strong enough to have done that. So what I did was I decided that I was going to commit my life to safeguard these species, and I will do everything in my power as an 11 year old, though, to make sure that the next generation are able to actually go out on a boat and see these animals when they are alive with their natural behavior. To be able to be a mother and have a calf that is safe, to have a calf grow up into becoming an adult and for them to be here for a long time.
Elizabeth: [00:09:35] Did that happen pretty quickly that you went from kind of manatees just being normal and around you and then you're on the research boat? Then all of a sudden you realize, this is my life's mission.
Jamal: [00:09:48] Yeah, it sort of caught me off guard as a kid. I always said that I wanted to be a lawyer and attorney. I felt that was what I wanted to do, but destiny had different plans for me. It was really like being on the boat and seeing these volunteers with boats, cars not being able to understand how they got them and not being able to understand them. They really meant enough and danger once those terms were explained to me. I really sort of grasped and understood that, you know what? This animal can actually not be here tomorrow. After reflecting on seeing these animals for my entire life, the thing that I can get up tomorrow morning and they're not going to be there, I felt like somebody had to do something about it, and why not me? Why can't I be that someone? So I volunteered from 11 years old, and then I was 16 years old when Dr. Paul and Nikola Williams Gomez offered me a job as a field assistant. It was probably one of the most exciting days of my life because I've always wanted to work. When the opportunity was there, when they offered it to me, I said, “Don't joke around my heart's racing, my blood pressure is going high. Are you serious?” And they say, “basically it seems like we cannot get rid of you, so we might as well hire you.” So I've literally worked my way up from the field assistant. I run the entire program for the entire country, I believe.
Elizabeth: [00:11:01] How incredible. Did the manatees themselves go from kind of being just all the same, to you starting to see individuals?
Jamal: [00:11:08] Most definitely. Most definitely. It sort of changed me as a kid seaman. This is kind of like your brain isn't developed enough to really grasp the magnitude of the situation these animals are living in and to really understand their lifestyle. I can reflect back and think to myself, I must have been crazy to be 11 years old and want to save an endangered species because it is a big job. It is a huge job. I guess I did not see this in a more literal sense.
Elizabeth: [00:11:35] Before we talk about what's actually happening to them and why there are less and less in most places. Will you talk about them specifically for a minute and just tell us a little about them?
Jamal: [00:11:47] I mean, you'd be shocked. There's a story I can tell about each animal that I've interacted with. It's astonishing to me how much we have in common. Especially when it relates to mother and calf bonding. How a mother feeds and takes care of the baby with love and care. That's just the way they are. So when they see an orphaned cub and I see a mother being killed by a boat, I relate that to a human being. So to look at it as a young child, being put in an orphanage, being moved from foster home to foster home, being raised by people that he or she may not know. May not understand his or her trials of tribulations and basically eventually put out there into the world to survive. It's not an easy thing to do, and it's a hard thing for anyone to do what we've managed to have taken from these animals. We can't possibly give a place in no way shape or form. It's just a minor gesture of saying, You know what? We're trying to help you. What have we taken from them? No more. No matter how much money you have, no matter how many conservation actions you've taken, no matter how many talks I've done, no matter how many kids have been inspired. It's just a small gesture compared to what we have taken from them. We can actually give them what they truly deserve.
Elizabeth: [00:13:04] It happens more and more that there's orphans, right? Mothers are being killed.
Jamal: [00:13:09] We're definitely seeing more and more rescues than we've normally seen in the past years.
Elizabeth: [00:13:15] I saw a few videos of you rescuing orphans, which are unbelievable to watch. But so when you rescue orphans, how do you even know they're there? How does that happen?
Jamal: [00:13:25] It is dependent on the public. Hence, the reason I try my best to commit is famous because people like things that are famous. If people become aware of what we are doing and who to call and what to do. It makes my job easier because it means that we have another, more, another few more eyes looking up for these species. So normally what would happen is that people that are living along the course, boat captains, fishermen would normally observe injured or dead. They call it into our land, and that's when we are going to respond to the report.
Elizabeth: [00:14:00] Take us through the process, so that there's an orphan and you get it out of the water. So then what happens?
Jamal: [00:14:06] Usually after we get the call here, we don't necessarily just react to get it out of the water because sometimes mothers will leave their calves in quiet areas as they go feed in nearby and you don't want to take a mother's calf while she's just off in the nearby here feeding. So what we do is normally hang around for about five minutes to an hour to observe the animal, also to look, to see, to make sure that there's no other manatee in the area. Our goal is not just to quickly rescue, it's to ensure that what we can do for this animal will be better than what it has experienced. In the only way we are going to react much faster. If the animal is in a critical state, we're unable to come to the surface to breathe or something is hindering it from being normal and so that we are immediately. Once the animal is rescued, we normally would collect important information, such as the sex of the animal, the weight, the length, and depending on its condition, we'd probably administer some polight and try to rehydrated it. Usually it means that these animals are away from their mother for a couple of days. They're usually very dehydrated, so you want to rehydrate them and sit there so that they're prepared and they're more comfortable for the journey to the rehabilitation center. This is quite a drive to the rehabilitation center, and it's loaded on to a rescue chop where we have a lot of sponge to make it more comfortable. We carry water to make it. We're supposed to keep its temperature. Once it gets to the rehabilitation center, it's usually put into isolation to ensure it doesn't bring something to them, to other animals that may be there and contaminate the rehab center. The folks that we have, and they will then take over from there, where they'll administer the necessary care and the animal is eventually ready to be released back into the wild.
Elizabeth: [00:15:48] How long from when you get them, until they're usually released back?
Jamal: [00:15:51] You go for a calf. It'll be around two to three years. As they have to get to a certain age. You have to get to a certain size and they don't have to. They have to be able to show a certain behavior, meaning that it should not be attached to human beings, and it's independent of its own. It's able to swim, do things that manatees don't normally do on their own before they actually are able to be released.
Elizabeth: [00:16:14] That must be tough for the humans to not let them get too attached when they have them for so long, right? Two to three years.
Jamal: [00:16:21] Yeah, you have to be really disciplined to understand. This animal's place is in the wild and you have to take some solace in the fact that you're putting it back where it belongs, trying to give it somewhat of a normal life to go back and to be imminent and not to be in a swimming pool being fed by humans. For me, I get solace in seeing them going back into the wild and being wild and free.
Elizabeth: [00:16:46] Yeah, for sure. There's a lot of things that are threatening manatees. What are the biggest ones, the boats?
Jamal: [00:16:53] That is a serious concern. But when you look at things such as habitat loss, as we are seeing in Florida, significant die off of seagrass beds apparently have grown accustomed to feed on for many, many, many years. These are like elephants. They remember where to go to feed, where to go to get fresh water. So, when they show up with the feeding and there's no seagrass, there's no other option, there's no Plan B for them. They basically sit there and die and that's what we've been seeing in Florida. They’ve been sitting, waiting to die because there's no food. So habitat destruction or loss of habitat has become a serious concern. In Belize we are taking note of the mistakes or mishaps that have occurred in Florida and hope to try and do better so that we do not end up in a similar situation as the population is way smaller. We can't afford to have another day off, not in a year at all.
Elizabeth: [00:17:44] How many do you have approximately?
Jamal: [00:17:47] Well, the population here is estimated to be around one thousand, and it's the largest number. Japan has the highest population of manatees in the world.
Elizabeth: [00:17:58] Which isn't very many, one thousand.
Jamal: [00:17:59] Exactly a thousand say, if you can see six hundred dead from Florida, that was to happen here, it would be a serious concern.
Elizabeth: [00:18:07] What about when you were a little kid? Like how many were there then compared to now?
Jamal: [00:18:12] I I'm pretty sure there were more. I would want to believe as there were less boats, there was less tourism, there was less development. There are lessons that are pressuring the population. But over the last 10 years or so, we've seen significant change in our country in terms of tourism, in terms of the needs of facilities development, habitat loss to build mega cruise ship ports and condos. We see Mangrove being cleared away and seagrass being dredged up and taken away. Then there's this climate change that we're not able to directly address right away. So there is an insurmountable amount of pressure that is on an already fragile population. That is why we truly believe that if our efforts are not able to keep up with the amount of pressure that is being brought on the species, we'll be better prepared for the worse.
Elizabeth: [00:19:03] That's really depressing. So how does this turn around?
Jamal: [00:19:06] The agenda is really inspiring change. Inspiring people to want to wake up to save a species and inspiring people to want to wake up and do something about it. Do something, just do something. Whether it's safe boating or putting your garbage in the proper place or supporting legislation that protects and safeguards the environment. To speak up against things that are destroying the environment. We all have a role to play and they must play a role. Otherwise we'll be in a boat that is heading for a significant nosedive.
Elizabeth: [00:19:35] You've been doing this for over 20 years. Is it difficult to get people to care about manatees? I know once they learn about them, I'm sure they care about them, but so many people just don't really even understand them.
Jamal: [00:19:46] It's not. It's not an easy task to tell somebody their way to convince them otherwise. They should leave what they're doing to want to listen to or to really learn and to appreciate manatees. I have a role to play in this. I am responsible for this one on this one and this gift to our ecosystem. They contribute to my livelihood and contribute to our environment. We need to realize that they do play a role in not having them. There is a significant impact as well. People don't play the fact that smart efforts can be a huge empowerment. I mean, I was just an 11-year-old year old. I wanted to see a species that had no knowledge of one. There's no law degree, no wrong. Nothing. All I had was I was inspired. I had persistence and dedication, and I was not going to be taken like turned on or told no. I was determined. That's all. I had determination and passion to see that species conservation should be a lifestyle. It should be a teacher, does conservation. It should be a doctor, a priest, whoever. Wherever you are, you should be a part of conservation. It's a part of life. It's not something that you go to at 9 to 5, it's something you live. My goal is to inspire people, not just to save money, but to see this planet, to remember that we have enjoyed it. It would be selfish of us to leave this planet in endless shit. We found it so that other generations are able to enjoy it because I firmly believe that if we do not teach the next generation the idea of conservation and preservation, we better teach them survival. The world, as it is, is already tough to imagine if you do not do the right thing. It'll be so hard for the next generation to even survive on this planet.
Elizabeth: [00:21:27] I know you talk to everything from small kids to adults to universities, you know, across the board. But when you're talking to small kids about manatees and about conservation, do they pretty quickly catch on and want to be a part of it?
Jamal: [00:21:45] They are actually my favorite to talk to. They make you see things in a different light that you basically overlooked or underappreciated. So for me, it's a learning process, for me as well as speaking to kids. But why I like speaking to them is because they make me excited. They make me feel like there's this hope. That, to me, is what makes me feel that we still stand a chance. Makes me feel like we are still able to make it work because they're the ones that are going to make the difference. Our job is to prepare them to make the difference, and if we don't prepare them, then we fail them. If it's left to me, I'll make sure that every single kid in the world knows about what I'm doing.
Elizabeth: [00:22:22] What about where you grew up? I'm sure everybody knows who you are and you're pretty famous. When you were a kid, were people paying attention to amenities and did you inspire the village to like to change because there's so many there now?
Jamal: [00:22:36] Most definitely. When I grew up, like I said, not much was known about this. There wasn't a lot of social media, television. We didn't have cable where I live. There's no internet there. There's no computers. The village is run on a generator. There wasn't electricity for 24 hours. So literally you're appreciating the environment. We should have around in our villages leading up to the species that gives us a sense of appreciation for not drilling. So it's one of the places that I think that when I consider that a haven for volunteers, plant the seagrass, there are numerous freshwater sources and people development is that if I went on to be a volunteer. But most definitely people in the village know and have a larger appreciation for the species, they recognize it, they love it. They're very proud of the person that I am, that I have become, but I am proud of the person that made me become because they all influence my life in some way or the other. They all push me to stand up and to speak out about a species that they represent as well. I can just share my best. To represent as best as I can and to make the story be known and heard because it's not an easy task. But I think it is the most important tool in conservation. It is literally a story. Every animal deserves a story and by me telling you this story, this story gets told. Twenty thousand people then tell it to another twenty thousand people, and before you know it, you have a kid in Oregon, one of the same volunteers that has never seen them in a day or four. I don't even know what it is, but I grew up in a small coastal community where you're exposed to guns, drugs, and because I draw an interest in volunteers, it took me away from guns and drugs and stuff like that. So people look at me and see that I am saving lives, but it literally saved my life first. I'm merely just doing them the favor that they've done for me. It's something that I felt that it had to have been done if I was a pilot, I still do it. If I was a doctor, I would still do it because it's something that I had to do. It's not an option for me. A guy has to do it. They will not feel that I really live my life fully if I'm not able to do this.
Elizabeth: [00:24:44] You know, I talked to a lot of people in conservation who are doing really incredible work and at the same time feel very overwhelmed by the direction the planet is going. Because there's such massive devastation going on and kind of across the board. When you're out there and you're doing your work and you're bringing all this awareness and you're saving these actual individuals. Do you feel like you're up against a really hard tide or do you feel like progress is coming?
Jamal: [00:25:14] I think, as you said to me, every single animal rescue is an animal that is saved. So just as I look at everyone that does that, that is not just a statistic, it's another one loss. It's not another one that's not going to contribute to being a part of the population. It goes both ways for me. But what really keeps me optimistic and keeps me going is that I have people that support me, people that depend on me to do what I do, and I know that they are dependent on me to tell their story and I can't let them down. That's not an option for me. Even though these ideas are dark, sometimes they are hard. Sometimes I feel like I've made 10 steps forward and 50 steps backwards. I reflect back on the people that sent me these kind notes and say, Thank you. I appreciate you. People will be surprised how far just a small gesture goes and people helping us saying, “How can I be a part of conservation? How can I help?” Helping is not always very easy to check. Yes, we do need funds to do the work that we do, but it's not the only thing that you can do. Helping is literally doing your part, volunteering in the cleanup somewhere or doing something for the environment. Couples sharing a post on social media help us by telling the story that you've been told to five other people. Help is literally one thing to care about the species, no matter what you do and where you are. You can be a part. I've had a kid, a kid from Oregon sent me a letter with a two dollar bill in there. And so this is my allowance, but it's not much, but I want you to help me with this. It wasn't a dollar bill. It's the fact that he wrote that letter, put it in an email and sent it all the way from Oregon to say ‘Jamal I really appreciate what you're doing. How can I help? How can I be a part of it?’ That's what makes me feel like there's a possibility for change because it definitely can happen.
Elizabeth: [00:27:02] Jamal, thank you for everything that you do for manatees and for the planet, and to inspire so many people to care.
Jamal: [00:27:10] Thank you for having me and for deciding to share the story.
Elizabeth: [00:27:25] To learn more about Jamal and to learn about manatees. Go to our website SpeciesUnite.com. We will have links to everything we are on Facebook and Instagram, @SpeciesUnite. If you have a spare moment and could do us a favor, please subscribe, rate and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts. It really helps people find the show. If you'd like to support the podcast, we would greatly appreciate it. You can do so by becoming a member and you can become a member at Species Unite and click Become a member. I would like to thank everyone at Species Unit, including Gary Knudsen, Natalie Martin, Caitlin Pierce, Amy Jones, Paul Healey, Santana Polky and Anna Conner, who wrote and performed today's music. Thank you for listening. Have a wonderful day!
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