28th May World Dugong Day

What is a dugong?

Dugongs are large grey mammals which spend their entire lives in the sea. Fully grown, they may be three metres long and weigh 400 kilograms. Dugongs swim by moving their broad whale-like tail in an up and down motion, and by use of their two flippers. They come to the surface to breathe through nostrils near the top of their snouts. Dugongs only hairs are the bristles near the mouth. This short video from National Geographic shows you this.

Dugongs are one of four living species of the order Sirenia, which also includes three species of manatees. Dugongs are related to manatees but their habitats do not overlap.

Where do dugongs live?

Dugongs are found in warm coastal waters from East Africa to Australia, including the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, and Pacific.

Dugongs are largely dependent on seagrass for subsistence so they are found in coastal habitats which support seagrass meadows. The largest dugong concentrations typically occur in wide, shallow, protected areas such as bays, mangrove channels, the waters of large inshore islands and inter-reefal waters. Most of the world's dugong population now occurs in northern Australian waters between Shark Bay in Western Australia and Moreton Bay in Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef region supports globally significant populations of dugong. There is a good map showing the distribution of dugongs in Australia here.

Where did the name dugong come from?

The name was first adopted and popularised by the French naturalist Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon, as "dugon" in Histoire Naturelle (1765), after descriptions of the animal from the island of Leyte in the Philippines. Other common local names include "sea cow", "sea pig" and "sea camel". It is known as the balguja by the Wunambal people of the Mitchell Plateau area in the Kimberley, Western Australia.

Want to know more?

Read:

• Dugong Magic  by Deborah Kelly and Lisa Stewart

• Wandihnu and the Old Dugong by Elizabeth and Wandihnu Wymarra and Benjamin Hodges

• The Dugong Meadow by Naomi Mairou

• The Bravest Dugong by Alec Frost and Graeme Compton

• Is it a Mermaid? by Candy Gourlay and Francesca Chessa

• Facts About the Dugong by Lisa Stratton