March 2008 marked Seagrass-Watch’s 10th year!
Happy Anniversary Seagrass-Watch!And the latest issue of the Seagrass-Watch Bulletin features "Dugong trails galore!"
Here's an extract...
You may not see them, even though they are as big as a cow. But if you look closely during low tide you may find evidence of their feeding. We're referring of course to dugongs. The large herbivourous marine mammal which lives in the tropical waters of Australia. This year, their grazing trails are more obvious, leaving a bigger imprint on the seagrass meadows of the Far North.
Often referred to as 'sea cows' (their diet consists mainly of seagrass), dugongs feed by digging furrows in the sea-floor with their snouts and uprooting seagrass.
Seagrass-Watch scientists have reported a higher than usual occurrence of Dugong Feeding Trails (DFT) at a number of Seagrass-Watch and Reef Water Quality Protection Program (RWQPP) monitoring sites across the Far North.
So next time you are wandering across the seagrass meadows, keep a look out for those DFTs! Healthy seagrass = Healthy dugongs!
Here in Singapore, dugong feeding trails have also been sighted on Chek Jawa!
So we too at TeamSeagrass should keep a look out for these trails!The Cyrene Sea Star that TeamSeagrass found is also featured in this edition of the Bulletin!
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