SINGAPORE: A dead dugong was found floating in the waters off Bedok Jetty on Saturday (June 6), marking the first local record of the marine mammal since 2021.
Republic Polytechnic student Jeremy Mark Ang, 19, was fishing at the popular East Coast Park spot with friends when they spotted a large, pale shape bobbing in the water at about 4.50pm.
Initially mistaking it for a big fish, the group was shocked to realise it was the bloated carcass of a dugong – a marine mammal that is considered to be critically endangered here. Ang estimated it to be about 2m long.
Also known as sea cows, dugongs are elusive creatures that typically graze on seagrass meadows. They are classified globally as vulnerable to extinction as they are particularly susceptible to human threats due to their long lifespans and slow reproduction rates.
“I really couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw it. It was quite sad because I know that they’re really rare, both in Singapore and in general,” Ang said. He added that he felt even worse when he saw what appeared to be plastic wrapped around the animal’s abdomen and tail.
A few children unsuccessfully tried to pull the carcass closer using fishing hooks, he recalled.
The dugong eventually washed ashore and was discovered farther along the East Coast Park beach by passers-by Saachi Iyer and Naina Dadlani at about 7.30pm.
Marcus Chua, a mammal curator at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, identified the animal as a juvenile. Before this, the last known record of the species in Singapore was another carcass found off Pulau Hantu in 2021.
“Dugong sightings or strandings are rare in Singapore, and it is rather unfortunate as we would rather see them alive on our shores,” Chua said.
Excluding those which have inconclusive autopsy findings, dugongs that need help or are found dead in Singapore tend to be linked to vessel strikes and entanglement with fishing gear, said Sirius Ng, a dugong researcher at NUS.
He noted that calves account for a majority of such records here, mirroring a concerning global trend.
“Increased calf stranding rates have been observed in dugong populations throughout South-east Asia and the Arabian Gulf,” he added.
To glean more information from the carcass, Chua said samples had been extracted with the help of the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore.
These samples will be preserved for research at the museum.
However, the museum will not be recovering the rest of the animal’s remains.
Said Chua: “Because we have the recent specimen from 2021 and due to the highly decomposed state of this one, we will not be salvaging the carcass.”
In January, the National Parks Board said it is drawing up an advisory that informs developers on ways to avoid harming marine mammals that frequent Singapore’s coastal waters.
Members of the public who spot large marine animals like dugongs, rays and turtles can aid research into them here by submitting their sightings to the Mega Marine Life in Singapore database at this website. - The Straits Times/ANN
