Dugong

He is cute, munching away at the seagrass and coming up for air every few minutes.

The dugong, or seacow, is related to the manatee that is found in Florida and the Amazon. You can easily tell them apart by the shape of the tail, the dugong's tail is forked.

This particular dugong is a major tourist attraction in Abu Dabab, I counted as many as 50 snorkelers and 14 divers with it at a time. With people constantly shouting "Dugongo, dugongo!" across the water and zodiacs popping into the bay to drop divers off at 10 meters from its location, it is amazing this creature does not get annoyed and move to a neighbouring bay. It remains relatively undisturbed for now. Probably the fact that the dugong does not scare easily is one of the reasons the species are nearly extinct - and maybe because the meat is supposed to be pretty good.

Filmed while snorkeling in Abu Dabab bay, Marsa Alam, Egyptian Red Sea, using a Fuji F30.

Category:

Pets & Animals

Tags:

• seagrass
• dugong
• seacow
• zeekoe
• marsa
• alam
• abu
• dabab
• egypt
• red
• sea
• snorkeling
• scuba
• diving
• manatee

[bigbobsbeltbuster]

Dugongs are manatees.

[zuidwijk]

@bigbobsbeltbuster - Not really. They are close relatives. The difference is most easily seen from the shape of the tail: a dugong's tail is forked like a dolphin's tail and the manatee's tail looks a bit like a paddle. The dugong is also smaller and is found around the Indian Ocean from the Red Sea to Australia. The manatee is found in North and South America.

[bigbobsbeltbuster]

@zuidwijk So... they have different names depending on where they are from. Oh, ok.

[zuidwijk]

@bigbobsbeltbuster - ehm... no, they are two different species.

[DeathtoALL991]

Are they friendly like manatees?

[zuidwijk]

@DeathtoALL991 Oh yes. Not playful and inquisitive like dolphins, but certainly not aggressive.

[zuidwijk]

@flyboy2000008 - actually, they are separate species. The manatee lives in the western hemisphere from Florida to the Amazon, and the dugong in the eastern hemisphere from the Red Sea to Australia. You can tell the difference from the shape of the tail, the dugong's is split, like the tail of a dolphin.

[ZodiacBraveG]

Dugong! Dugong! it's the cow of the sea sea SEA! ♪

[crazyninjas702]

he doesn't have wings! (because that is silly.)

[anonamooseable]

There is a rumour that old sailors used to think manatees  were mermaids and actually kiss them. And do something else to them...

[Slave2thedrago]

Man pokemon lied to me. That things is ugly as fuck(but cute in a weird way) nothing like Dewgong.

[Tyre408]

GO POKE`BALL.....yes, i went there.

[kenwoodline6]

@anonymusbob101 It doesn't have wings, cause that is silly. Doesn't live in a tree, that would also be silly.

[AshThePhantom]

They're not mermaids, they're duGONGS! :{D

[anonymusbob101]

Dugong! Dugong! Its the cow of the sea sea sea! Dugong! Dugong! Also known as the Manatee!