This dugong (Dugong dugong: 250 cms.) was about to land on its sea grass feeding ground, having just returned from the surface. They breathe air and need to do so every five minutes. Dugongs and manatees are the only plant-eating marine mammals. The much larger Stellar's sea cow (up to 800 cms.) was hunted to extinction by 1770. Sea grass is sparse in the Red Sea; dugongs have to feed voraciously in order to survive. Sadly, they are becoming rare. The IUCN Red List indicates that the species is vulnerable, due mainly to hunting - and the effects of climate change and pollution. Egyptian waters

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Size: 5197px × 3442px
Photo credit: © Terence Dormer / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No

Keywords: adventure, creation, diving, dugon, dugong, east, egypt, extinct, grass, iucn, life, list, mammal, mammals, marine, middle, natural, red, scuba, sea, sea-, selection, species, stellars, trd5143, underwater, vulnerable