KOTA KINABALU: Sabah wildlife authorities have advised boat operators to be careful when operating around the Tanjung Aru area here due to the sudden appearance of a dugong.
The dugong was first sighted by paddleboard guide Lisa Poroting on Wednesday (March 13) morning.
Poroting said she and her boss Nick Boura have since sighted the marine mammal in the water periodically, most recently on Saturday (March 16) morning.
Sabah Wildlife director Augustine Tuuga said the dugong - also called the “sea cow” - is a totally protected species under the state Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
“Hopefully the public will not harass it while it is there. Maybe not many people know of its existence and accidents can happen when boats travel in the area; hopefully it doesn’t get struck by a boat," he said when contacted on Sunday.
He added that Sabah Wildlife personnel will be in the area to look out for the dugong.
Tuuga said they were not certain where the dugong originated from.
“As far as I can remember, this is the first time the species is reported to be in the area (Tanjung Aru waters). If it remains there for some time, there might be seagrass that it feeds on. We do not have information about the seagrass in the area,” he said.
Similarly, Sabah Parks director Dr Maklarin Lakim said the Tunku Abdul Rahman Marine Park, which is a cluster of islands off the Sabah capital, provides a protected habitat for the dugong.
“Such a habitat also exists at the Pulau Tiga Park off Kuala Penyu (about 110 km southwest of Kota Kinabalu) where there is seagrass. Dugong have been recorded there,” he said, adding Sabah Parks will also consider sending a team to monitor the situation.
He said that dugong are known to be a migratory species like turtles and added that the animals will travel long distances to feed on seagrass.
Previous news reports have mentioned that there were also dugong sightings at Mantanani Island, off the northern Kota Belud district, some 100km from here.
However, there have been no sightings at the island in recent memory.
Meanwhile, Poroting said she and Boura have been keeping an eye on the dugong at Tanjung Aru from a distance.
She added that Boura - who is the owner and CEO of paddleboard centre Borneo Paddle Monkeys - had also taken aerial photos of a dugong using a drone.
“We are only doing what we can so the animal is kept out of harm’s way. But we are just still as thrilled now as the first time we saw the dugong in real life on Wednesday morning,” she said.
