LUMUT, March 23 — Just weeks after fishermen near here buried the carcass of an endangered turtle, they have been confronted with another shocking discovery.
They found the remains a dugong, measuring a little more than 1m in length, floating about 800m from the beach of Teluk Senangin, a popular weekend picnic spot, on Thursday.
According to Sahabat Alam Malaysia field officer Meor Razak, the marine mammal had not been sighted in the area recently.
“Like the Green and Olive Ridley turtles, the number of dugong in the area has dwindled substantially. Maybe it is due to fishing activity or changes in the environment or sea water,” he said.
“The area is losing its appeal to these sea creatures. So whenever we see or hear about dugong swimming in the area we get quite excited.
“Imagine our shock when we learned about the sighting of the remains of a dugong.
Meor said the dugong came to Teluk Senangin most likely to feed.
He said the local geography could also be a factor in attracting dugong, turtles and dolphins.
However, fishing, along with the opening of forested areas as picnic spots and rapid industrialisation, were ruining the area’s natural beauty.
Fisherman Noor Ismady Ahmad Radzuan said dugong were a common sight in Taluk Senangin many years ago.
He said fishermen would normally see them swimming alone although there had been instances when they saw them in pairs, and sometimes a calf with its mother.
“It is rare to see them nowadays. When a fisherman found the carcass we were shocked. It may have been floating around the bay for a few days,” Noor Ismady said.
“We could not figure out what may have caused its death.
“It obviously died prematurely because it was not that big. It could be a calf.”
An adult dugong can grow up to 3m in length and weigh more than 400kg.
Last month, fishermen found the carcass of a Green turtle with its shell torn apart after being hit by propeller from a fishing boat.
