Dugong

"Dugongs, or sea cows as they are sometimes called, are marine animals which can grow to about three metres in length and weigh as much as 400 kilograms. They are the only marine mammals in Australia that live mainly on plants . . . Dugong play an important ecological role in coastal marine ecosystems, and the status of dugong populations in an area can be used as an indicator of general ecosystem health . . . Dugong inhabit shallow, tropical waters throughout the Indo-Pacific region. Most of the world’s dugong population now occurs in northern Australian waters between Shark Bay in Western Australia and Moreton Bay in Queensland. The Great Barrier Reef region supports globally significant populations of dugong. This being one of the reasons the area was given World Heritage status . . . There are concerns about the dugong population within the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area. Based on current research it is thought that dugong numbers have declined along the urban coast of Queensland, south of Cooktown. There are a number of human related threats to dugong including boatstrike, incidental capture in fishing nets and marine debris, and habitat degradation due to coastal development and declining water quality."