Dugong

The Dugongs belong to the family Dugongidae. Dugongs are the only species in this family and dwell in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. This creature is also known as a “sea cow” just like its close relative, the manatee. Dugongs are herbivores, grazing in seagrass beds, nibbling on the seagrass. This type of behavior is how they get their nickname. When they unroot the seagrass, they use their strong upper cleft lip to pull the grass up (this looks just how a cow does when they are grazing, eating grass.). Unlike its close relative the manatee, the Dugong cannot enter fresh water. Their body cannot adapt to salinity change like manatees. This makes them the only marine mammal that is herbivorous. These “sea cows” can be relatively large. They can reach a length of 13 ft. and weigh more than one metric tonne. Being that big, the Dugong doesn’t have a natural predator, but the young could be preyed on by some sharks, orcas, or saltwater crocodiles. At first glance, you would believe them to be closely related to maybe a whale, but they are more closely related to land mammals like the elephant. It should be noted that there was once another sea cow in the Pacific Ocean, The Steller’s Sea cow. However, due to hunters and explorers, they hunted them into extinction in the 1700s.

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