Rare Dugong Found in Lamu: Is Community Conservation Helping To Bring Them Back?

Photo by Kris Mikael Krister on Unsplash

Scouts in Pate Marine Community Conservancy discovered a rare sea mammal while on patrol last week, confirming anecdotal reports from fisherman of signs and sightings of the vulnerable dugong along Kenya’s north coast. 

The adult female dugong was found deceased on Friday 3rd April on the shores of Pezali Shanga, Pate Island. Her cause of death remains unclear, but there was no evidence of poaching or of the dugong having been a victim of by-catch. 

Pate Marine Conservancy scout, Athman Kupi, was one of the first on the scene. “I cried after seeing this rare marine mammal dead,” he said. Kupi and his colleagues are on the front line of marine conservation on Pate, helping to patrol critical marine life breeding sites, prevent illegal mangrove logging, and supporting more sustainable fishing initiatives implemented by Pate Community Conservancy.  

Dugongs are found in the warm coastal waters in the Indian and Pacific Oceans, from East Africa to Australia. Although they are legally protected throughout their range, their numbers are in decline. Hunting, habitat loss, drowning in fishing nets and fatal injuries from boats are all contributing to the disappearance of this unique and fascinating sea mammal. Although well within their native range, the Kenyan coast thought to host very few dugongs, and there have only been a handful of sighting over the past 10 years.

But could this be changing? 

“Sightings of dugongs are uncommon,” says Deputy Director of NRT-Coast, Hassan Yusuf. “Though it is sad that we lost this one, its sighting corroborates the information we have been getting from our fisher community in Pate and Kiunga islands. They have been reporting sightings of dugong grazing trails under the sea waters.” 

Dugongs are strict vegetarians, feeding predominantly on sea grass, and can stay underwater for around six minutes before they need to come up for air. They grow to between eight and ten feet, weighing between 230 and 500 kilograms. 

The dugong carcass found by Pate scouts was estimated to be between 2-3 days old.

“We will be working together with Kenya Wildlife Service, PMCC and Kenya Marine Mammal Network (KMMN) to gather more information on what might have caused the Dugong’s death,” said Hassan. 

In 2000, a dugong was rescued and released back to the sea after it was found stranded on the shores of Pate Island, through the collaboration of the Lamu fisher’s community and the Community Conservancy.

“While we wish we had found it alive, this finding is still an indication that our community-led conservation efforts are yielding fruits,” says Hassan, “as these vulnerable species are finding our habitats safe again as a result of increased protection by the local community."

These sentiments are echoed by Pate Community Conservancy’s manager Nadhir Mohamed Nashim. “I wish to thank the Pate Island and Lamu fisher community for great collaboration, and our partners for supporting our vision to improve the livelihoods of our community through the conservation and sustainable use of natural resources.”