Rare dugon carcass washes up on Andaman beach
The carcass of a large dugon estimated to have been 15-20 years old at the time of its death, was swept onto Koh Khor Khao Beach in Phang Nga’s Takua Pa district on Sunday.
Phang Nga province last year reported 10 live dugons in its sea.
A fertile zone of the dugon’s favourite food, seagrass, is located three kilometres west of the beach where the rare sea mammal was found.
The three-metre-long and much-decomposed carcass had several wounds along its body. Police and Tambon Koh Khor Khao Beach Administrative Organisation went to investigate the site, along with a kamnan and village headman.
They suspected that the dugon died at sea and was swept into shore by recent strong waves.
The tambon administrators then alerted the Andaman Marine and Coastal Resources Research and Development in Phuket to collect the dugon’s DNA sample and investigate its cause of death.
