Dugong - The Sea Cow |
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Many visitors to Shark Bay are aware of the area's significance as a
dugong habitat. The dugong is one of two surviving sirenians, or sea
cows, the other is the manatee found in areas of the Carribean, Amazon
and West Africa.
The dugong spends much of its time grazing on the soft and delicate sea grasses of the Shark Bay World Heritage area. The animals can live up to 70 years and grow about 3.3 metres and weigh up to 400kg. Females do not calf until they are at least 10 years old, they bear a single calf every 3 to 7 years after a gestation of 13 months. Mothers are attentive and care for their young for up to 2 years and communicate with them through bird-like chirps and high pitched squeaks and squeals. Calves never venture far from their mothers and frequently ride on their back, particularly when danger threatens. At Monkey Mia there is one of the world's only reliable dugong watching cruises, where visitors travel aboard a specially equipped sailing catamaran and are able to get close to dugongs in the wild. This cruise operates every day from the Monkey Mia Dolphin Resort jetty. Other places where Dugongs can be spotted is at Ningloo Reef in Northern Western Australia and outside the central Queensland coast.
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