Context: Dugongs once widespread along India’s coastline are now regionally endangered, with fewer than 200 individuals left.
Relevance of the Topic: Prelims: Key facts related to Dugong.
About Dugong
- Herbivorous mammal found in India’s marine ecosystems. Also known as sea cow, it resembles a cross between a seal and a whale.
- Distributed through the Indo-Pacific region. It is found along the Indian coastline, primarily inhabiting warm waters around the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Gulf of Mannar, Palk Bay, and the Gulf of Kutch.
- Inhabits shallow coastal waters- primarily feeds on seagrass.
- Key characteristics:
- Dugong is able to live up to 70 years.
- They rapidly regrow teeth in multiple iterations throughout their lives.
- They are typically solitary or seen in small mother-calf pairs. They are shy and avoid interacting with humans.
- They are air-breathing mammals that must surface regularly.
- They reach reproductive maturity after nine or ten years, and give birth at intervals of three to five years.
- Conservation status:
- IUCN status: Vulnerable
- CITES: Appendix I
- Wildlife Protection Act 1972: Schedule I
- In India, they are classified as regionally endangered. Once widespread in Indian waters, their numbers have dwindled to an estimated 200 individuals, with both their population size and geographic range continuing to decline.
Factors responsible for declining population of Dugong:
- Habitat Degradation: Seagrass meadows are being lost at an alarming rate due to climate change, rising sea temperatures, ocean acidification, and extreme weather events like cyclones.
- Marine Pollution: Pollution has led to accumulation of mercury and organochlorine compounds in their muscle tissues.
- Changing fishing methods: Bottom trawling damages seagrass beds, accidental entanglement in fishing gear.
- Illegal Hunting: Poaching, especially in the remote areas of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
Government Efforts
- India is a party to the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals.
- India is a signatory to the Convention’s Memorandum of Understanding on Dugong Conservation and Habitat Management across their range since 2008.
- Govt. has announced the creation of the country’s first dugong conservation reserve. It spans 448.3 sq. km in the coastal waters of Palk Bay, Tamil Nadu.
Dugongs are gentle giants and act as gardeners of the sea, quietly shaping our oceans by nurturing seagrass meadows.
About Sea Grass
- Seagrass is an underwater flowering plant, not to be confused with seaweed. It is classified as a wetland ecosystem.
- Significance: Seagrass meadows stabilise the seafloor, support fisheries, capture carbon, and shelter marine life such as turtles and fish.
- The National Centre for Sustainable Coastal Management documented 516.59 sq. km of seagrass habitat in India (2022). This translates to a carbon dioxide sequestration potential of up to 434.9 tonnes per sq. km each year.
- India’s most extensive seagrass meadows occur along- Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay, off the coast of Tamil Nadu. It together supports more than 13 species of seagrass, the highest diversity in the Indian Ocean.