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Dugong dugong
Basic stats
Diet
Seagrass (primarily), grazed from shallow coastal beds
Habitat
Shallow coastal waters, estuaries and sheltered bays
Range
Coastal Indo-Pacific; in Borneo recorded off Brunei Bay and the Sarawak coast around Lawas
Litter size
Single calf (typical for the species)
Gestation period
About 13–14 months (typical for the species)
Size
Large (2.4–3m body length, typical for the species)
Weight
~230–400kg (typical for the species)
A large marine mammal only occasionally documented along Borneo's coast, grazing on seagrass in shallow estuaries and bays. Confirmed records are scarce and mostly opportunistic — reports from fishermen or brief encounters rather than dedicated surveys.
Some of the best-known Bornean records come from Brunei Bay and the waters around Lawas in Sarawak, where dugongs have been seen feeding on sea grass or, less happily, caught incidentally in fishing gear. Hard population data for Borneo's dugongs is lacking, reflecting how little the species' coastal habitat here has been surveyed.
