Descripción
Satayah Dugong is a route specially designed to enjoy these animals.
Dugongs are the only vegetarian marine mammals. This enormous marine herbivore is found in warm coastal waters from East Africa to Australia, including the Red Sea, the Indian Ocean, and the Pacific.
They are related to manatees and resemble them in both physical appearance and behavior, with the difference being that the dugong’s tail is fluked like a whale’s. Both animals are related to the elephant, although it bears no resemblance to them in either appearance or behavior.
The dugong spends day and night grazing on underwater grasses, rooting through them with its sensitive, bristled snout, and chewing them with its tough lips. This mammal can stay underwater for six minutes before coming up to the surface to breathe. Sometimes, it breathes by “standing” on its tail and sticking its head out of the water.
These melancholic animals are easy prey for coastal hunters and have long been hunted for their meat, fat, skin, bones, and teeth. Today, the dugong is protected throughout its range, but its population remains in a delicate state.
It is believed that dugongs inspired ancient maritime legends about mermaids and nereids.
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