Heartening images of a huge green sea turtle nurturing a baby dugong in Thailand’s Dong Tarn Bay were posted on the Facebook page of Sakanan Plathong, a biology lecturer at the Science Faculty of Prince of Songkhla University today (Tuesday).
“The baby dugong has a green sea turtle as its new mother. The fact that it is a huge turtle shows that it is familiar with the area and where it is safe, otherwise, it would have been caught in fishing nets and died a long time ago. The turtle knows which route is safe,” said Sakanan.
He suspects that the mother of the baby dugong may be the one which was found dead in the Dong Tarn Bay area last December, leaving its baby orphaned. So, when the baby dugong found the green sea turtle, it just clung on to it and refused to leave.
He said that the baby dugong is dependent on its mother for milk and sea grass, adding that he hopes the turtle will be its surrogate mother and protect it while they forage for seagrass in the bay area.
Sakanan said that green sea turtles have been found regularly in the bay area, but some of them have died recently. He pleaded with all parties concerned to protect both the green sea turtles and dugongs and to suspend activities which may affect sea grass, which is the source of food for the dugongs.
The lecturer said it is not necessary to catch the baby dugong, to be nurtured in an aquarium, and it should be allowed to live in nature, while efforts must be made to protect its food source.
