somewhere below the sea;

Dugong in Malaysia

Dugongs used to be common in the Johor Straits, but numbers have been reduced since the 1980s and they were considered locally extinct by some Malaysians. However, they have featured in the news in peninsula Malaysia since late January, when a dugong calf was caught in a fishing net in Johor. The calf was maintained in a kepong or fish trap for nearly six weeks, and became a star attraction during this period. Its carcass was recovered within 48 hours of its being released, causing further controversy. Since then another four dugong carcasses have been recovered in the area, two of them from an abandoned kepong. No food was reportedly found in the stomachs of these animals at necropsy. Two more dugongs were captured by a fisherman and released. I have been invited to go to Malaysia in May to help design a research program.
(Compiled by Helene Marsh from reports in Malaysian newspapers)

October 2000's Sirenews: Evidence For a Resident Dugong Population in the Johor Straits, Between Malaysia and Singapore. map Before 1990, dugongs were rarely reported in the Johor Straits, in Malaysian waters or in Singapore. From 1924 to 1990 there were only 11 known sightings and strandings of dugongs in this area. In contrast, between 1994 and March 1999 reports of 12 strandings, 6 live individuals caught in fishing nets (2 were mother and calf pairs), and 22 aerial survey sightings suggested that dugongs inhabit the area. In fact, dugongs were considered only as transitory in the Johor Straits area until the observations made in 1999 strongly supported the hypothesis that all stranded and sighted individuals might belong to a resident population. The results of genetic studies conducted on 2 stranded juveniles are consistent with the hypothesis of a resident population. They showed that the 2 individuals, washed ashore 2 months apart, were closely related, most likely siblings. As the only social unit identified for dugongs is the cow-calf pair, it is unlikely that siblings would have traveled there from separate home ranges. Furthermore, past research on seagrass distribution combined with the 2 aerial surveys conducted by the Department of Fisheries Malaysia on the 25th of March 1999 and again with the assistance of Professor Helene Marsh on the 11th of May 1999 identified several seagrass beds in the area, some with feeding trails in Halophila ovalis, which is a species preferred by dugongs. Based on the hypothesis of a resident dugong population, long-term research studies have been launched. An integrated study of endangered marine species in the Exclusive Economic Zone waters of Malaysia, with special emphasis on the dugong and its habitat, has been recently proposed by the Department of Fisheries, Malaysia, and the Singapore Wild Marine Mammal Survey project (SWiMMS) also includes dugong distribution and abundance assessments among its main goals.

At least three live dugongs have been seen off Tanjung Pengeleigh during dedicated aerial surveys, and authorities are talking of gazetting a marine park to provide protection. Meanwhile, fishers have been asked to demolish disused kepongs and to monitor active kepongs regularly.

Sabah, Malaysia. - The dugong population has not been formally censused in the Sabah area. Dugongs are still sighted by fishermen, who believe them to be decreasing in abundance. Although dugongs are totally protected by law, sometimes they are accidentally captured in fishing nets or killed by illegal fishing using explosives. Meat is illegally sold in the market.

credits to Frame Dugong Distribution 2

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Location of dugong sightings and strandings in Sabah

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Malaysia and Singapore

dugongs are present in this area, albeit in limited numbers, concentrating mostly in the strait that separates Singapore from peninsular Malaysia. Still, their numbers have never been estimated. Around the year 1970 they were considered extinct, but later aerial surveys have confirmed that a few dozen specimen have survived. In May 1999 nineteen adults and a young one were sighted during an aerial recognition flight in the islands of Pulau Besar and Pulau Rawa, in the south east of the peninsula.

East Malaysia and Brunei

An estimate of the number of dugongs is also missing for this area. Their presence is reported in the region of Sabah, in Kota Kinabalu, Kudat, Sandakan and Semporna, as well as in Brunei. Aerial surveys conducted in 2000 spotted seven groups of adults, 14 specimen in the Brunei bay and 3 of them in Kudat. The survivors are few, but it's important that dugongs have not become extinct because of hunting, which was the belief until a few years ago

Adopted from http://www.robertosozzani.it/Dugong/html

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Blue Colour Represent the whereabout of DUGONG

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When a survey was done in Thailand, Bangkok, the result reported is that Thailand has become Southeast Asia's biggest habitat of dugongs’ which the survey had found around 200 sea cows in the kingdom, according to a report of the Fisheries Department.

The director-general, Dhammarong Prakobboon of the department says that according to the survey by a Thai researcher team, the colony of dugongs found in Thailand is the biggest number of the docile sea mammals discovered in Southeast Asia.

Dhammarong said Kanchana Adulyanu, an expert in rare species animal was assigned to study dugong in Thailand; she reported to the department that there are 200 dugongs in Thai waters. Dhammarong also input that the largest numbers of dugongs are found at southern province of Trang, he also adds that 123 dugongs can be spotted during the aerial survey.

The rest of the dugong can be found at the coastline of Adaman Sea in the southern province of Krabi, Phang-Nga, Phuket, Satun, and some live around the bay of Thailand particularly in the Eastern province of Rayong.

Labels: credits to http://www.pattayamail.com

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In Australia, Dugongs swim in the shallow coastal waters of northern Australia were they find protection from large waves and storms. Dugongs surface only to breathe, and never come on to land. They like to live in large herds, but due to declining numbers are often now found in smaller "family" groups of between 1 and 3 Dugongs

AUSTRALIA : The largest remaining dugong population in the world. In 1991 the northern Australian population was estimated at approximately 70,000 (??) with 12,500 in the Torres Straits and 1,700 in the northern Great Barrier Reef.

Labels: http://home.iprimus.com.au/readman/dugong.htm

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The picture shows us seagrass (Potamogetonaceae, Hydrocharitaceae and Cymodoceaceae) which is what dugong feed on. Therefore, dugong can be found at those places that have seagrass so they can feed.

Labels: http://www.unep-wcmc.org

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