- Home
- About us
- Visas and migration
- Travelling to Australia
- Living in Australia
- High Commission services
- Study in Australia
- Doing business with Australia
- Media
- About Australia
- Events
- Australia-New Zealand relations
Australian Water Creatures
Dugong
Dugongs are marine mammals that live in the shallow warm waters of northern Australia. They live in small groups called herds. They eat the sea grass that grows there. As they graze, they 'walk' their flippers along the sand, rising to the surface every so often to breathe.
A female dugong has one calf every four or five years. The pregnancy lasts for one year. To keep the newborn calf safe from sharks, the female moves to shallow water protected by sand bars when she is ready to give birth. The young stays with its mother for one to two years. It suckles milk from the mother's teats. The female has one teat under each flipper.
Dugongs are hunted by sharks, crocodiles and killer whales. The main threat to dugongs, however, comes from humans, who hunt dugongs for their meat and skin. Also, dugongs are often caught in fishing nets and drown. The sea grass beds where they feed are being depleted. This is because pollution along the coast and in the ocean is killing the sea grass.
The dugong's head has large cheeks called jowls that help push the sand away from its mouth as it eats so that it never swallows sand. It has tusks, but the female's tusks do not develop very much. The shape of the dugong's tail is similar to that of a dolphin.
The dugong has a close relative called a manatee, which is found in waters off Florida, U.S.A. The manatee is larger and its tail is shaped like a beaver's. Dugongs were once common throughout the Indian Ocean but now there are only a few thousand left in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea, and just a few hundred in Asia. Dugongs are being protected in sanctuaries and marine national parks in Australia. Dugongs are found in the largest numbers in Australian waters.
Sailors used to tell stories of seeing mermaids in the waters of northern Australia, but what they saw were probably dugongs.
Dugongs are approximately 3 meters long and up to 400 kg. They are coloured greyish brown.
Related weblinks -
• Learn more about dugongs -
http://www.gbrmpa.gov.au/corp_site/info_services/publications/dugong/
• And more here -
http://www.deh.gov.au/coasts/species/dugongs/index.html