Meet "The Manatee Man"

In 2016, Hurricane Earl devastated Belize, causing over $100 million worth of damage and displacing thousands of Belizeans across the country. But humans were not the only victims of the storm. Deep in the mangroves, an infant manatee was separated from her mother and washed onto the mainland. She was so tiny when Jamal Galves found her, with her umbilical cord still attached. He named her Hope.

After 7 years in rehabilitation, Hope the Manatee is soon to be released back into the wild. But as development and climate change continue to affect the waterways she calls home, what will her future hold? 

Hope's savior, Jamal Galves, also known as The Manatee Man, was just 11 years old when he began his journey in manatee conservation, volunteering with a crew of scientists in the small Belizean fishing village where he grew up. At one time, manatees were such a common sight in the area that the village of Gales Point Manatee itself was named after them. But today there are less than 1,000 Antillean Manatees left in this part of the world. In the 25 years since his first volunteer expedition, Galves has worked with hundreds of these animals, but Hope holds a special place in his (and the nation's) heart. 

Follow Jamal on Instagram.

Photo credit for this episode art: Clearwater Marine Aquarium Research Institute.

Thanks for listening to Going Wild. We're really excited to share the rest of this season with you! You can learn more about season three HERE and catch up on seasons one and two HERE. 

If you want to support us, you can follow Going Wild on your favorite podcast-listening app. And while you're there, please leave us a review. It really helps.

You can also get updates and bonus content by following me, Dr. Rae Wynn-Grant, and PBS Nature on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, and Facebook. You can find more information on all of our guests this season in each episode's show notes. And you can catch new episodes of Nature, Wednesdays at 8/7 Central on PBS, pbs.org/nature, and the PBS app.

Going Wild is a podcast by PBS Nature. NATURE is an award-winning series created by The WNET Group and made possible by all of you.

Views and opinions expressed during the podcast are those of the individuals expressing them and do not necessarily reflect those of THIRTEEN Productions LLC/The WNET Group.