Dugongs ‘may decline 70%’

Dugong populations in the Andaman Sea are expected to decline by 70% over the next four years due to the diminishing supply of seagrass, which is their main source of food, a marine biologist has warned.
Thon Thamrongnawasawat told the Bangkok Post on Wednesday that a crisis of depleting seagrass reserves is contributing to the decline of this marine mammal so more action should be taken to help protect and preserve the increasingly rare species.
Various agencies have been working together to improve the seagrass reserves which have been affected by climate change.
Mr Thon, who is also the deputy dean of the Faculty of Fisheries at Kasetsart University, said 72 dugongs died in 2023-2024 from a total population of 250 recorded in 2022 in the Andaman Sea.
Currently, there are around 120 but that number could decline to 70 in four years, he said.
”We will have less and less dugong populations if we don’t take more aggressive action to protect their food source,” he said.
The Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) has come up with an urgent measure to tackle the crisis, by feeding dugongs with Chinese cabbage at a pilot site in Rawai beach of Phuket.
The DMCR recently launched the pilot site at the beach where dugongs often visit to feed on the seagrass there.
The DMCR now offers four one-square-metre sites with four kinds of vegetables: morning glory, bok choy, kale and cabbage.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are also being used to collect data. So far only one dugong has approached one of the sites, but not eaten anything.
The DMCR is also studying other alternative foods for the dugongs.
Mr Thon said his team is working with researchers in Malaysia amid reported sightings of dugongs in Penang.
He said some may have moved from the Andaman Sea to find new food sources in the neighbouring country.
Jatuporn Buruspat, permanent secretary at the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said their declining numbers are alarming. He said he has ordered his staff to devise more urgent measures to increase seagrass fertility in the region.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives is working with the DMCR to collect their seeds for further plantation.
Mr Jatuporn rejected a proposal to relocate the dugongs in the Andaman to the Gulf of Thailand, where seagrass is more abundant. He said more studies are required before making such decisions as the species is known to be very sensitive to new environments.