Dugong surveys of Manus and Bougainville Islands, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Dugong dugon are the last extant species in the Family Dugongidae and are listed as Vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN Red List. The dugong population is believed to be in decline globally. Throughout its range, relic populations remain and are separated by large areas where populations have disappeared (Marsh & Lefebvre 1994). The degree of the decline of numbers or fragmentation of its range is not known for any country. For many countries the only information available is from incidental sightings, drownings and anecdotal information. The Pacific region supports the world's largest remaining population of dugongs (Marsh et al. 2002). Dugong occur in most of Melanesia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), the northeast and east coasts of Australia and as far east as Vanuatu.. The current status of dugongs is unknown throughout the region (Marsh et al. 2002) and information on dugong distribution and abundance is outdated or non-existent. It is likely that dugongs are widely distributed in small numbers in much of PNG. the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu and that larger numbers occur in the Papua New Guinea waters of Torres Strait. Marsh et al. (2002) states that their reliance on relatively shallow water seagrass beds for food, limits the ability of dugongs to travel between islands and continents that are separated by extensive areas of deep water. For this reason, many island populations become essentially isolated, making these populations especially vulnerable to extinction.