Brazil’s environmental agency approved oil drilling off the mouth of the Amazon River, even though oil company Petrobras considers it “unfeasible” to rescue large animals like manatees in the event of an oil spill.Potential oil spills threaten a unique hybrid manatee population perfectly suited to live in the Amazon River mouth area.A simulation testing Petrobras’s wildlife rescue plan showed lack of basic supplies and boat accidents.The project is part of a massive new oil frontier in the Equatorial Margin estimated to hold 10 billion barrels of oil.
In October 2025, Brazilian state oil company Petrobras began drilling in the seabed where the Amazon River empties into the Atlantic Ocean, following a long, controversial environmental licensing process. At the center of the debate were concerns about the unique wildlife living here, on the shores of the states of Amapá and Pará, and about the company’s capacity to rescue these animals in the event of an oil spill.
The potential victims range from marine birds and turtles to the recently discovered Amazon reef system. One endangered marine mammal, however, has prompted particular concern because of the extra challenges to rescuing it in the event of a disaster: the West Indian manatee (Trichechus manatus), a species that grows to a length of around 3.5 meters (11.5 feet) and weighs an average of 700 kilograms (more than 1,500 pounds); some individuals reach up to 1,600 kg (more than 3,500 lbs).
