An enclosure has been built in the sea off Muk Island in Trang province, to be used as a rehabilitation shelter in which sick and weak dugongs can recover, be fed and treated until they are strong enough to return to the open sea.
Pinsak Suraswadi, director-general of the Department of Marine and Coastal Resources, said the enclosure was jointly devised by his department, the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation and the Faculty of Fisheries of Kasetsart University due to the acute shortage of seagrass, the staple diet of aquatic mammals.
Forty-one dugongs have been found dead since the beginning of this year, mainly due to starvation from the shortage of seagrass. Average death toll from 2005 to 2019 was 13.
Two enclosures are planned, with the first being the one near Muk Island and the other off Rawai Beach in Phuket, which is close to the marine and coastal resources research centre.
Pinsak said that when a weak or sick dugong is found, it will be caught and brought to the enclosure for rehabilitation, adding that it will be taken care of by vets.
Pathum Pongsakornfuangfu, chief of Hat Chao Mai National Park in Trang province, said that seagrass has been planted in the enclosure near Muk Island.
He explained that the enclosure is necessary to protect the seagrass from being eaten by other sea creatures.
