01/05/03

Dugong’s plight underlines threat to oceans

By: Katie Mantell

We encourage you to republish this article online and in print, it’s free under our creative commons attribution license, but please follow some simple guidelines:

You have to credit our authors.
You have to credit SciDev.Net — where possible include our logo with a link back to the original article.
You can simply run the first few lines of the article and then add: “Read the full article on SciDev.Net” containing a link back to the original article.
If you want to also take images published in this story you will need to confirm with the original source if you're licensed to use them.
The easiest way to get the article on your site is to embed the code below.

For more information view our media page and republishing guidelines.

The full article is available here as HTML.

Press Ctrl-C to copy

<div class="article-wrap">
<div id="article-introduction">
<h1>Dugong’s plight underlines threat to oceans</h1>
<h4>By: Katie Mantell</h4>
</div>
<br />
<br />

<div id="article-body">
<p>The world population of dugongs — the marine mammal also known as the manatee, ‘sea cow’ or ‘elephant of the sea’— is under threat from human activities, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).<BR><IMG height=83 src="http://c96265.r65.cf3.rackcdn.com/2002feb_dugong.jpg" width=163 align=right><BR>The decline of the dugong — which is a key ‘indicator species’, commonly used to infer the health of its environment — is a warning that the world’s oceans are also being degraded.<BR><BR><em>The Dugong: Status Report and Action Plans for Countries and Territories in its Range</em> says that pollution from the land, coastal developments, boat traffic and fishermen’s nets are key threats to the animal.<BR><BR>“Dugongs appear to have disappeared or already become extinct in some places,” says the lead author of the report, Helene March of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia. <BR><BR>Few, if any, of the animals can now be found off the coasts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, the Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius — countries that previously boasted significant populations with herds in the hundreds. <BR><BR>Klaus Toepfer, UNEP executive director, says that the report — which was released on 12 February in Cartegena, Colombia at a meeting of UNEP’s governing council — “shows that we must strengthen our efforts to reduce marine pollution”.<BR><BR>© SciDev.Net 2002<BR><BR><STRONG>Photo credit</STRONG>: © Doug Perrine/Seapics.com</p>

</div>
<div class="quick-links-wrapper">
<h3>You might also like</h3>
[related-articles]
</div>
<p>This article was originally published on <a href="https://www.scidev.net" target="_blank">SciDev.Net</a>. Read the <a href="https://www.scidev.net/global/news/dugongs-plight-underlines-threat-to-oceans/" target="_blank">original article</a>.</p>
<script type="text/javascript">
(function(e,t,n,r,i,s,o){e["GoogleAnalyticsObject"]=i;e[i]=e[i]||function(){(e[i].q=e[i].q||[]).push(arguments)},e[i].l=1*new Date;s=t.createElement(n),o=t.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];s.async=1;s.src=r;o.parentNode.insertBefore(s,o)})(window,document,"script","//www.google-analytics.com/ga.js","ga");var _gaq=_gaq||[];var _gaq=_gaq||[];_gaq.push(["_setAccount","UA-3223906-8"],["_trackEvent","article interaction","republished","https://www.scidev.net/global/news/dugongs-plight-underlines-threat-to-oceans/",null,true])
</script>
</div>

The world population of dugongs — the marine mammal also known as the manatee, ‘sea cow’ or ‘elephant of the sea’— is under threat from human activities, according to a new report by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

The decline of the dugong — which is a key ‘indicator species’, commonly used to infer the health of its environment — is a warning that the world’s oceans are also being degraded.

The Dugong: Status Report and Action Plans for Countries and Territories in its Range says that pollution from the land, coastal developments, boat traffic and fishermen’s nets are key threats to the animal.

“Dugongs appear to have disappeared or already become extinct in some places,” says the lead author of the report, Helene March of James Cook University in Townsville, Australia.

Few, if any, of the animals can now be found off the coasts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, the Comoros, Madagascar, Seychelles and Mauritius — countries that previously boasted significant populations with herds in the hundreds.

Klaus Toepfer, UNEP executive director, says that the report — which was released on 12 February in Cartegena, Colombia at a meeting of UNEP’s governing council — “shows that we must strengthen our efforts to reduce marine pollution”.

© SciDev.Net 2002

Photo credit: © Doug Perrine/Seapics.com