A few days ago an adult manatee was spotted in the Marina Casa de Campo!
The above photo of a rather large adult manatee was contributed to us by TOY BOX Luxury Rentals who have recently opened in the Marina Casa de Campo – who, when not taking fantastic photos of the wildlife offer services which include villa, yacht, jet, and daily fun-in-the-sun rentals!
The manatee was spotted in the waters near to the Darsena residential area of the Marina Casa de Campo – which doesn’t seem like a very safe place for him (or her) to be. So if you are lucky enough to spot a manatee in the Marina Casa de Campo please contact Rita Sellares, Director of FUNDEMAR (The Dominican Foundation for Marine Research) on (829) 714-0616 or rsellares@gmail.com, so that they may help guide him to safety.
Manatees in the Dominican Republic
During the 1970′s, the coasts of the “Parque Nacional del Este” (to the East of Casa de Campo) was a prime habitat for manatees, populated by at least 4 “families” or “groups” of the animals. However, in recent times the area has become dangerous for the species – leading them close extinction. BUT, despite declining numbers of manatees in the Bayahibe-Dominicus area, recently FUNDEMAR has noted more regular appearances of manatees in the area, where many of them have been filmed and photographed by tourists and residents – which suggest that numbers are once again on the incline! Woohoo!
In fact the entire coast of the East of the Dominican Republic is a haven for many marine wildlife species – especially dolphins and turtles, here are a few heart-warming stories you may enjoy:
Last Saturday 13th of June 2012, a baby manatee, was spotted in the “Parque Nacional del Este” national park area and thanks to the “Fundación Dominicana de Estudios Marinos” (The Dominican Foundation for Marine Research), otherwise known as FUNDEMAR, the manatee was successfully reunited with it’s parents. Here we share with you this great “rescue” story and photos of this manatee family that live here on the Eastern coast of the Dominican Republic!
Hawksbill turtles and indeed all marine turtles are nearing extinction in the Dominican Republic- but thanks to the tireless efforts of a humble fisherman from Saona Island, the numbers of these beautiful creatures are slowly increasing. Negro, who has lived on Saona Island all his life is a fisherman, a fisherman, who until 7 years ago was guilty of hunting turtles and their eggs- because many people in the Dominican Republic mistakenly believe that turtle eggs and meat can remedy erectile dysfunction…
Rumors have surfaced about a man-eating shark patrolling the beautiful natural swimming pool (and popular party spot); Palmilla – and everyone is panicking! But wait, have there been any shark attacks at all? No? Why not? Because the sharks that have been spotted are Nurse sharks, which although big (up to 4m / 14ft) are according to Rita Sellares of FUNDEMAR (the Dominican Foundation of Marine studies), “inoffensive and one of the most calm shark species.”
As part of the International Day of the Oceans, celebrated last Friday June 8th, we received a cute and peculiar story about Corazón, a beautiful bottlenose dolphin, who loves visiting the warm coasts of Bayahibe, only 30 minutes away from Casa de Campo and Samaná, located on the North East coast of the Dominican Republic, and who with his frequent appearances near Bayahibe has been helping scientists develop a better understanding of the species.
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