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Mortality of the Antillean manatee, Trichechus manatus manatus, in Ceará State, north-eastern Brazil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 March 2008

Ana Carolina Oliveira de Meirelles
Ana Carolina Oliveira de Meirelles*
Affiliation:
Associação de Pesquisa e Preservação de Ecossistemas Aquáticos—AQUASIS SESC Iparana, Praia de Iparana s/n, Caucaia-Ceará, Brazil, 61627-010
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Ana Carolina Oliveira de Meirelles, Associação de Pesquisa e Preservação de Ecossistemas, Aquáticos—AQUASIS, SESC Iparana, Praia de Iparana s/n, Caucaia-Ceará, Brazil, 61627-010 email: cameirelles@yahoo.com.br
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Abstract

Manatee mortality in Ceará State (north-eastern Brazil) is analysed from twenty-five strandings between 1987 and 2002. The majority of the causes were related to the ‘dependent calf’ category (83.3%). Direct human-related causes were attributed to incidental catches in fishing gear (shrimp trawling and gill-nets) (12.5%) and direct capture (4.2%). Spatial distribution was not uniform, with the highest number of strandings on the east coast. The number of strandings has increased since 1999, and the seasonal distribution showed peaks in February, March and January, in that order. The stranding of manatee calves in Ceará State seems to be indirectly related to human activities that impact coastal nursing habitats.

Keywords

Trichechus manatus manatusAntillean manateenorth-eastern Brazilmortality
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom , Volume 88 , Special Issue 6: Marine Mammals , September 2008 , pp. 1133 - 1137
Copyright
Copyright © Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom 2008

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