Is it a whale? Is it a shark? No? It’s probably a dugong.
The bizarre-looking sea cows, among the world’s most endangered mammals, still live off the coast of Rakhine state.
But their existence is under threat from fishing nets, which trap them as they graze on sea grass, according to a Myitmakha News Agency report published in the Global New Light of Myanmar.
One animal died in December last year after becoming ensnared in a net near Mann Aung Island.
So the Department of Fisheries last month launched an awareness drive to encourage fishermen to help the animals out.
“There are only two areas along the Rakhine coastline where they still remain,” said U Htun Tin, head of the Department of Fisheries in Kyauk Phyu Township.
“Fishing vessels which encounter dugongs becoming caught in their nets are prohibited from killing them for food and have been instructed to release them back into the ocean.
Unfortunately, few follow these regulations.”
Basically, we need more people like U Kyaw Thar, a local fisherman who said he saved a Dugong pup from near death last year.
“Last June, a Dugong pup was caught in our nets but we released it straight away as it still showed signs of life,” he told Myitmakha.
