File photo: Dugongs
Thirty-six dugongs have died this year, including five in November alone, largely of starvation due to the depletion of sea grass, believed to be caused by global warming.
Sea grass used to be abundant in their feeding grounds in the seas of Trang, Krabi and Phuket, said Thon Thamrongnawasawat, a marine expert at Kasetsart University.
The latest dugong to be found dead is believed not to have eaten for a long time and its body covered with sea squirts, although the actual cause of death is pending an autopsy report.
He said, however, that officials from the Fisheries Faculty, in cooperation with local people on Phu Island in Krabi province, have been trying to grow sea grass in a test farm in the sea.
Sea cucumbers are also raised on the farm, so the villagers will tend to both the sea grass and the sea cucumbers, adding that the project will be further expanded.
Thon admitted, though, that he is concerned that more dugongs will die, as he urged authorities to develop contingency plans to save the dugongs.
Meanwhile, Arlee Chainam, president of the Krabi marine conservation association, claimed that about 90% of the sea grass, found in over 3,200 hectares of the sea around Phu, Cham and Si Boya islands has disappeared, as he urged authorities concerned to rehabilitate the feeding grounds of the dugongs quickly.
A test farm, to grow sea grass in the sea off Ban Laem Sai in Sikao district of Trang province, operated by the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, has been doing well, with the sea grass growing steadily and expanding. The farm is protected to prevent other sea creatures from eating the sea grass.
Due to the depletion of sea grass in their traditional feeding grounds, many dugongs have migrated from Trang to Krabi and further down to Satun and the Malaysian border line in search of food.
Santi Nilawat, director of the Phuket Marine Biological Centre, said that the depletion of sea grass does not only affect dugongs but other aquatic species as well, such as blue crabs, dog conch (Laevistrombus canarium) and some species of fish, which thrive in the sea grass meadows.
