Unprecedented numbers of emaciated dugongs have washed up dead along Thailand’s Andaman Sea coast over the past three years, prompting marine scientists to urgently investigate what’s driving their decline. Thailand’s Department of Marine and Coastal Resources (DMCR) recorded an average 42 dugong (Dugong dugon) fatalities in 2023 and 2024 — more than double the annual losses recorded between 2019 and 2022. The increase seems to be continuing into 2025, with 12 fatalities recorded as of April 9. Autopsy data reported by the DMCR indicate at least 40% of the deaths in 2024 were likely due to starvation following the widespread depletion of seagrass, the species’ primary food source. In recent years, scientists have recorded concerning die-offs in key seagrass areas along the Andaman coast in provinces including Trang, Krabi and Phuket. Once flourishing habitats full of fish, crabs, turtles and dugongs, many seagrass meadows have deteriorated into barren stretches of sand. What’s more, cases of dugongs being killed by boat strikes and fishing bycatch have also increased as the animals leave depleted foraging grounds to venture into unfamiliar, riskier waters in search of sustenance. “When they move to other areas they’re not familiar [with], there are other threats like boat traffic,” Petch Manopawitr, a marine ecologist who’s advising government agencies on the dugong situation, told Mongabay. “Clearly, they’re going everywhere they can to try and find food.” A dugong photographed by drone in Thailand. Researchers use the marks on the animals’ backs to identify individuals. Image courtesy of Theerasak Saksritawee.…This article was originally published on Mongabay
Dugong numbers plummet amid seagrass decline in Thailand’s Andaman Sea
