Dugongs (Dugong dugon) are peaceful and tranquil animals, they appear fat, but are fusiform, hydrodynamic, and highly muscular, reaching up to 3 meters in length and weighing up to 500 kg. They are exclusively bottom feeders, primary feeding on sea-grass and aquatic vegetation they uproot by digging furrows in the seafloor with their snouts. The species’ preferred habitats include warm and shallow coastal waters, with healthy ecosystems that support large amounts of vegetation.  As mammals, they regularly surface to breath and dive to feed, explore, rest or travel. The reproductive cycle is characterized by a long gestation period of 13 months, after which the female will give birth to a single calf that will receive considerable parental care until it reaches sexual maturity which is between age 8 and 18 years.  Dugongs are long living animals, They live up to 50 years or more, but because of the long effort invested in their young, females give birth only a few times during their life span.

Dugongs descended from terrestrial mammals that browsed in shallow grassy swamps during the Eocene and their closest modern relative is the elephant. Their smooth skin is slate-grey in colour and their body more stream-lined than manatees, with a fluke-shaped tail and a pig-like head.

Calving occurs in the shallow waters of tidal sandbanks. A newborn calf usually measures 1.2 meter long, weighs approximately 30 kg and relies primarily on its mother’s milk for up to 18 months.Knowledge of the social behavior of dugongs is rudimentary. The habits and habitats of dugongs make them difficult to observe and the lack of distinct size classes or obvious sexual dimorphism limits the data obtained from direct observation. The only definite long lasting social unit is the cow and her calf. Dugongs feed primarily on sea-grasses. Recent studies indicate that they prefer species high in nitrogen and low in fibre such as Halophile ovalis. They can manipulate sea-grass beds to encourage regeneration of fast-growing pioneer species, which they prefer. Maintaining a highly palatable area of food has been coined ‘cultivation grazing’. They generally uproot whole plants producing distinctive feeding trails. Like the hippopotamus, which supplies freshwater habitats with up to 50 kg of processed plant material a day, the dugong also recycles marine meadow nutrients, although the extent of this important ecological process remains to be quantified.

Dugong movements have been tracked in studies using VHF and satellite transmitters. Most movements are within areas of seagrass beds and are dictated by the tides. At the southern limits of their range, dugongs make seasonal journeys to warmer waters. Both short-distance movements, of 15-40 km a day and long distances of up to 600 km have been recorded indicating the importance of international collaboration in their management.Dugongs have an extensive range spanning at least 37 countries and territories, and occur in association with coastal and island seagrass beds in the tropical and subtropical waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans . Approximately 85,000 of the world’s dugongs are found in the inshore waters of northern Australia. This is likely to be at least three quarters of the global population, possibly considerably more. Elsewhere, populations are small and fragmented and in some areas, such as Mauritius, the Maldives and parts of Cambodia and Laos, dugongs have already disappeared.Dugong meat tastes like beef. Dugong hunting for food and oil was once widespread throughout the dugong’s range and still occurs in at least 31 countries. Today the dugong is legally protected in most countries.

• Do not attempt to touch, ride, or chase a Sea Cow.
• Do not restrict normal movement or behaviour of the Sea Cow
• Maintain a minimum distance of 3/4 meters from the Sea Cow
• Take plenty of pictures but avoid flash photography which can scare the Sea Cow. Photograph any characteristic features which may help re-identify the Sea Cow in the future.
• Do not use underwater mortised diver propulsion
• Groups of swimmers should stay together and ideally remain at the surface.
• DON'T conduct any Skin diving / Free diving near the Sea Cow
• Do not feed Sea Cow
• Scuba divers Should keep safe distance from the bottom and DO NOT move the sand or sit down on the Sea-Grass.
• DO NOT Throw litter onto the beach or over the side of the boat before or after dives / Snorkeling trips. Pick up underwater litter that looks fresh. Empty out bottles and cans in case they contain small marine organisms or eggs of marine organisms.
• Always report any violations

Dugongs are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and classified globally as ‘vulnerable to extinction’ due to a population decline of at least 25% in the last 90 years (IUCN, 2000). Their habitat requirements and slow rate of reproduction render them particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic activities, and they are threatened by hunting, incidental net captures, pollution, coastal development and disease.