Wild Dugong Conservation and Seagrass Welfare

Dugongs are vulnerable marine mammals entirely dependent on seagrass meadows, facing population decline from habitat loss, boat strikes, and bycatch across their Indo-Pacific range.

Key Facts

Dugongs are the only strictly herbivorous marine mammal, feeding almost exclusively on seagrass.
They can consume up to 40 kg of seagrass per day, making intact meadows critical to their survival.
Dugongs are listed as vulnerable globally, with some regional populations critically endangered.
They are slow to reproduce, with females producing a single calf every 3-7 years.
Boat propeller strikes are a significant cause of mortality and scarring in dugong populations.
Shark nets and gill nets set for other species entangle and drown dugongs regularly.
Seagrass meadows are declining globally due to coastal development, pollution, and climate change.
Dugongs can live over 70 years and have complex social bonds, including long mother-calf relationships.

Welfare Considerations

Dugong welfare is inseparable from the health of seagrass ecosystems. Animals in degraded habitat experience nutritional stress as they must travel further between feeding patches, expending energy reserves. Boat strike injuries leave dugongs with chronic pain from propeller wounds, and many survive with permanent scarring or disfigurement. Bycatch entanglement causes drowning — a terrifying death for an air-breathing mammal. The slow reproductive rate means that each adult female lost represents an irreplaceable contribution to population recovery. Climate-induced seagrass die-offs, such as those seen in Shark Bay, Australia in 2010-2011, can cause population-level nutritional crises affecting hundreds of individuals simultaneously.

What You Can Do

Reduce boat speed in designated dugong protection areas and follow exclusion zone rules.
Support seagrass restoration and protection programmes in your region.
Advocate for bycatch reduction requirements in fisheries operating in dugong habitats.
Reduce fertiliser and chemical runoff from land that causes seagrass-smothering algal blooms.
Support Save the Dugong Foundation, WWF Marine Programme, and local marine park bodies.
Choose sustainably sourced seafood to reduce bycatch pressure in dugong habitat.