Friday, June 8, 2012

Dugong - The Cow's Watery Cousin

For World Ocean’s Day,
I will learn more
about the dugong. 

Besides having a fun name,
these are really cool animals.


They can grow to
three metres and can
weigh 500 kilograms.
They have a thick layer of fat,
 making their bodies
look very round.
Their tail is like that
 of the whale and their flippers
 are quite small.
Being a mammal,
they have short, thick hairs
growing from small pits
in their skin. 
Sounds so attractive!


Being a sea cow,
they live in groups called herds.
They eat grass…
sea grass. 
Sadly, their numbers
have dropped so much
 that their herds
now usually only contain
three family members.
Babies can be 120
centimetres long
and weigh up to
 30 kilograms.
The baby stays with its mother
 until it is 18-24 months old.
 They reach maturity when
aged between 9 and 17 years.
They can live as long
 as people do,
if they are not killed before then.
While dugongs are protected
in Australia, they are a
traditional food for the
Australian Aboriginal people,
 who can hunt them for food.



Their mouth is large
and their top lip
is covered with thick bristles,
which help them grip
and hold
the slippery sea grass.
Breeding is nasty
for the female.
He’s rough with her
and she is often left
with scars on her back.
Unlike land cows,
the dugong does not have
a chambered stomach. 
They have a super long
intestine, which is…
wait for it…
riddled with bacteria
– for breaking down the grass. 


Apparently, these gentle animals
 have been mistaken for women
and were thought to be mermaids
by sailors who had obviously
been at sea for too long!
 Photos from Wikipedia.
Information from here and here.

1 comment:

Snofrid said...

I like dugons!