The body of another dead dugong has been discovered on the beach of Koh Lanta district of Thailand’s southern province of Krabi yesterday.

Officials from the Office of Marine and Coastal Resources, based in Trang province, and those from the Koh Lanta national park, rushed to the beach in front of the Red Rock Hotel after they were alerted to the beached dugong.

The mammal is believed to have died more than five days ago.  Officials said they did not find any wounds on the carcass, which weighed about 70 kilogrammes and measured 2.7 metres long.

The dugong was sent to the Centre for Research and Development of Marine and Coastal Resources in Phuket province to determine the exact cause of its death.

Mr. Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong, director of the research centre in Phuket, said on his Facebook page that this is the 23rd dead dugong found this year.