IN A flooded cave system within the Mexican state of Quintana Roo, on the Yucatán peninsula, a manatee mom (pictured above) swims as much as cave diver Klaus Thymann, who captured gorgeous photographs of those endangered mammals dwelling in a novel, under-explored habitat. “In fact, I believe she’s taking a look at me,” says Thymann. “However the actuality is she’s in all probability wanting on the reflection within the digicam.”

Carved into limestone rock by flowing water, the cave system, considered as much as 16,000 kilometres lengthy, hyperlinks the coast with inland cenotes, freshwater-filled sinkholes created when cave roofs collapse. Thymann and his fellow divers have been exploring this method (pictured above) to movie manatees, which, not like the people, navigate the passages with ease.

The manatees have in all probability been within the area for generations, says Thymann, but there are estimated to be fewer than 250 of them within the Mexican Caribbean. Thymann is worried that building tasks close by are placing the realm’s aquatic species in danger. A brand new practice line will deliver much more growth to the favored vacationer vacation spot (pictured above). Development can block the circulate of water within the system, ravenous it of oxygen and doubtlessly trapping manatees. Wastewater from floor run-off and sewage methods lowers the water high quality within the space’s aquifer.

Although the coastal space is a protected manatee sanctuary, this doesn’t lengthen inland, the place these manatees had been photographed. So, whereas discovering manatees inside a comparatively untouched cave community is constructive information, these habitats might not stay so pristine for for much longer.

New Scientist video
Discover the world of those manatees in our mini documentary youtube.com/newscientist