Maroni River

The Maroni River flows through Dutch Guiana, a region on the northeastern coast of South America. During the Nautilus's voyage along this coast on April 12, the ship drew near the mouth of this river, where several groups of sea cows, known as manatees, were living in family units. These manatees, which belong to the order Sirenia like the dugong and Steller's sea cow, were harmless and unaggressive animals, each measuring six to seven meters long and weighing at least 4,000 kilograms.

The Role of Manatees and the Spread of Disease

Professor Aronnax explained to Ned Land and Conseil that farseeing nature had given these mammals a major role to play. Manatees, like seals, are designed to graze the underwater prairies, destroying the clusters of weeds that obstruct the mouths of tropical rivers. He further elaborated on the consequences of man's near-complete destruction of these beneficial races: rotting weeds have poisoned the air, and this poisoned air causes the yellow fever that devastates these wonderful countries. This toxic vegetation has increased beneath the seas of the Torrid Zone, so the disease spreads unchecked from the mouth of the Rio de la Plata to Florida.

The Nautilus's Hunting and the Significance of the Encounter

Without scorning these theories, the Nautilus's crew captured half a dozen manatees. It was an issue of stocking the larder with excellent red meat, even better than beef or veal. Their hunting was not a fascinating sport; the manatees let themselves be struck down without offering any resistance. Several thousand kilos of meat were hauled below, to be dried and stored. The encounter with the manatees at the Maroni River thus serves as a concrete illustration of the ecological consequences of human interference, a theme that resonates with Captain Nemo's broader critique of humanity's destructive impact on the natural world.