Sighting of lone dugong in Phuket sparks concern
Boat operators were urged to exercise caution after a single adult dugong was seen swimming near a busy bridge on resort island
The video clip of a dugong swimming near a busy bridge in Phuket’s Rawai Beach area went viral on Tuesday, with the poster urging relevant authorities to check on this rare mammal.
The 41-second clip, posted on the Facebook page of Phuket Info Centre, had been taken on Tuesday morning at Rawai Bridge in the south of Phuket island.
The accompanying text urged boat operators at the resort island to be extra cautious when passing the area.
Once the post went viral, deputy mayor of Rawai subdistrict Nikorn Papakityotsaphat visited the site to see things for himself. He said the dugong was an adult and usually swam underwater, possibly looking for food. He said the mammal would come up for air from time to time.
“The sighting of this dugong points to the abundance of seagrass in the Rawai area, which attracts the sea mammals,” he said.
Meanwhile, marine biologist Kongkiat Kittiwatanawong responded to the clip by saying that the dugong may have migrated from the Andaman area off the coast of Trang province in the South of Thailand.
In a Facebook post, Kongkiat posted an old satellite image of Rawai Beach, saying: “This photo was taken four years ago above Rawai Bridge. It only had patches of seagrass and there was no sign of dugongs back then.”
He said this dugong may have swum north to Phuket after fields of seagrass in Trang were either depleted or damaged by humans.
The marine biologist said recent data shows that there could be up to nine dugongs frequenting this famous tourist beach in Phuket.
However, he said, they may have migrated here only temporarily as the seagrass there is not enough to feed a large herd.
